Bond appeal denied for conspiracy theorist accused of harassing grieving Sutherland Springs

Robert Ussery, is escorted Thursday, May 24, 2018 out of the federal courthouse after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad. He faces a federal charge with approaching Sutherland Springs pastor Frank Pomeroy on March 5 and telling him that his daughter, slain in the November massacre, never existed. less Robert Ussery, is escorted Thursday, May 24, 2018 out of the federal courthouse after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad. He faces a federal charge with approaching Sutherland Springs pastor ... more Photo: William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close Bond appeal denied for conspiracy theorist accused of harassing grieving Sutherland Springs 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

A man accused of harassing victims and relatives of those killed in the Nov. 5 Sutherland Springs church massacre lost another attempt to get out of a federal jail on bond Tuesday.

Emotional testimony from one of the investigators helped convince Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to deny the request of Robert Ussery, 55, who appealed a detention order issued by another judge.

Texas Ranger Terry Snyder testified that Ussery had engaged in a pattern of harassment of those who lost loved ones in the mass shooting before he and his girlfriend, Jodi Mann, 56, were arrested on March 5 after confronting First Baptist Church Pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose daughter was among those killed by the gunman.

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Snyder said Ussery went around Sutherland Springs offering $100,000 “for proof of death of any of the 26 victims,” including an incident at a memorial for the victims where he made the offer over a bullhorn. Ussery and Mann posted some of their interactions with people in Sutherland Springs on a website, Side Thorn, that is full of homemade videos — taken from TV news reports and Ussery’s own camera — supposedly proving that the Sutherland Springs massacre did not occur. It also claims that the tragedies at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the Boston Marathon and the country music concert in Las Vegas are hoaxes devised by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“The conversations (posted on the site) were demoralizing to the victims of Sutherland Springs and ... hard to watch,” Snyder said.

Snyder said Ussery was demeaning to a young girl and her mother, who had lost relatives in the church shooting. The young girl had sent Ussery an email “asking him to stop posting those things” on social media. Ussery found a number for the girl’s parents and spoke to the girl’s mother.

Ussery laughed at them and asked “Are those tears painted on, like they were at the memorial?” Snyder testified, choking back tears.

After the March 5 incident, Ussery and Mann were charged in Wilson County with state charges of resisting arrest, trespassing and other counts.

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Though the pair made bail on the state charges, the matter resulted in a restraining order being issued against them, according to testimony and court records.

During the incident, the pair had Go-Pro video recording equipment that recorded the encounter. That helped agents develop a federal case against him.

When agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reviewed the video, it showed Ussery handled a gun by the pickup the pair were in, placed it under a mat in the truck and told Mann that if there’s a question about the gun by police, Mann should claim ownership, an ATF agent previously testified.

Ussery was convicted of felony burglary of a vehicle in 1984 in Brazoria County and is barred by federal law from possessing a gun.

When he was arrested in May by the feds, agents searched his home and found 10 guns on the property, including a .50-caliber rifle, two assault-style rifles, two shotguns and 1,500 rounds of ammunition.

Ussery was charged with being a felon with a gun, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad last month ordered him held without bond after determining Ussery to be a danger to the communtiy. Ussery’s lawyer, Guillermo Lara, filed a motion seeking to overturn Bemporad’s order and argued that some of the government’s allegations were incorrect.

In denying the request for bond, Judge Garcia said Ussery is free to believe any conspiracy theory he chooses, but “he is not free to disturb the peace and tranquility of Sutherland Springs.”

Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of his stories here. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland