Unfair Park from p4 ▼ CAPITOL RIOT LOST PRIDE P NICHOLAS DECARLO HAD TRAVELED TO WASHINGTON D.C. WITH NICHOLAS OCHS, A PROUD BOYS LEADER. BY PATRICK STRICKLAND osing for a picture during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, probably wasn’t Nicholas DeCarlo’s best idea, but it likely wasn’t the worst decision he made that day either. Along with Nicholas Ochs, a Honolulu resident and purported leader in the far- right Proud Boys group, North Texas native DeCarlo attended the Capitol riot and ap- peared on livestreams throughout the day. In a D.C. court earlier this month, Ochs and DeCarlo pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding in exchange for prose- cutors dropping additional charges. DeCarlo, a 32-year-old Fort Worth resi- dent, could face between three and a half to four years behind bars, though a judge could still impose a sentence harsher than the guidelines. Robert Feitel, DeCarlo’s attorney, had not replied to the Observer’s request for com- ment by publication time. DeCarlo is one of at least 40 North Tex- THE DALLAS OBSERVER RESTAURANT GUIDE Your Best Resource for Dining, Takeout, & Delivery Recommendations ans who have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, Katherine Chaumont, a spokesperson for the FBI in Dallas, said by email last Monday. DeCarlo had traveled from Texas to the nation’s capital, staying in a Virginia hotel with Ochs. When supporters of former President Donald Trump marched from a so-called “Stop the Steal” rally to the Capitol building, DeCarlo and Ochs were among them. At one point during clashes that day, “both men threw smoke bombs at the po- lice line,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a recent statement. Later, when the pair found a Capitol police duffel bag, De- Carlo reportedly swiped a pair of plastic handcuffs. After Ochs and DeCarlo left the building, Restaurateurs - You can now communicate directly with staff to request updates! dallasobserver.com/guide/ dallas-restaurants SCAN HERE OR VISIT they told livestream viewers that they and other rioters had successfully prevented the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Ochs apologized to viewers for not being able to broadcast footage of “when we stormed the f*ckin’ U.S. Capitol and made Congress flee.” “We did our job,” DeCarlo said on video, according to court documents. “We did our job.” Authorities say DeCarlo later admitted he scrawled “Murder the Media” on a Capi- tol building door, an apparent reference to a right-wing media collective. Ochs was arrested in Hawaii the day after the riot, and DeCarlo got picked up in Burle- son, about 15 miles south of Fort Worth, on Jan. 27, 2021. Around the country, federal authorities have charged more than 900 people with of- fenses related to the Capitol riot. Around 42% have entered guilty pleas. In late July, the first jury trial of a Capitol 4 6 rioter ended with Wylie resident Guy Reffitt receiving a sentence of more than seven years in federal prison. Earlier this month, Kelly SoRelle, an at- torney for the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was charged with four counts related to the Capitol riot. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia says SoRelle, a 43-year-old Granbury resident, tried to de- rail the investigation by destroying and hid- ing evidence. She’s also charged with obstructing an official proceeding. In the wake of the Capitol riot, Republi- cans around the country condemned the violence. Many have since changed their tune, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who went on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show in May to apologize for having previ- ous called the incident a “violent terrorist attack.” ▼ CITY HALL TRASHED W IN JUNE 2021, DALLASITES SUBMITTED SOME 27,000 COMPLAINTS ABOUT SANITATION SERVICES. BY JACOB VAUGHN hen City Manager T.C. Broad- nax’s job seemed like it was on the line in June, one complaint coming from the mayor, City Council mem- bers and residents stemmed from the dwin- dling quality of basic city services like trash and recycling collection. As Broadnax works through a 100-day plan to get the city back on track, the De- partment of Sanitation Services is preparing to roll out changes that it hopes will improve the experience for residents and workers alike. Under the current schedule, many resi- dents often see delays in trash and recycling pickups, causing the junk to pile up outside their homes. And the employees with the department are stuck working 10-12 hour days. It’s a problem that’s persisted for more than a year. In June last year, the number of complaints about recycling and trash collection skyrocketed to more than 27,000. City Council member Cara Men- delsohn said she still hears from residents about delays and missed pickups. She also hears about sanitation vehicles being out of service. Dallas Department of Sanitation Services via Twitter The city will contact Dallas residents about updated sanitation services starting next month. But all of that is due to change for the bet- ter on Dec. 5, says Director of Sanitation Ser- vices Jay Council. Staffing and equipment shortages, as well as bad weather or other unpredicted cir- cumstances, often cause the delays residents experience, Council said. As of now, the ser- vices are provided four days a week. When crews aren’t able to finish their routes, they have to make up for it on other days. After a while, the schedule can back up, leading the whole service to fall behind even further. In turn, that leads to longer workdays for the crews. The upcoming changes aim to tackle both of these issues with five-day work weeks to shorten individual workdays, and more efficient routes that will affect over half of the city’s sanitation customers. Coun- cil, who has been on the job for a little more than a year, said the changes have been a long time coming. “We haven’t done an update of our routing in over 10 years,” Council said, ex- plaining that the routes simply haven’t kept up with the city’s growth. “As you grow, you have to update your routing to go along with that. So, this is long over- due.” In a Sept. 9 memo, Assistant City Man- ager Carl Simpson explained the changes in detail to Mayor Eric Johnson and the rest of the City Council. The city says it will send more specific details to residents in the com- ing months. “These route changes will allow for more efficient use of city equipment, will shorten the workday for sanitation crews, and will allow for maintenance on equip- ment to begin earlier each day,” the memo said. They’ll do this by reducing the amount of times crews have to go to and from transfer stations, the landfill and their recovery facil- ity. This should save on labor hours and fuel, while also reducing emissions in the city. Sanitation crews can expect to work eight hours a day instead of 10-12 when the changes are rolled out. SEPTEMBER 22–28, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | dallasobserver.com
