A former Orange County police chief was charged in June for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Alan Hostetter, 57, who is representing himself in federal court in Washington, D.C., sought to have the criminal charges he faces thrown out on Monday, arguing he was the unwitting victim of an FBI counterintelligence operation.
The San Clemente resident and former deputy chief of the Fontana Police Department who briefly served as chief of the La Habra Police Department, founded the American Phoenix project, which prosecutors alleged was created to foment violence against those who supported the 2020 presidential election results.
The indictment against Hostetter and five other defendants accused them of conspiring in the run-up to the Jan. 6 riot, citing public speeches by the former police chief in which he allegedly said “execution” was “just punishment” for those who opposed overturning the 2020 election results.
Hostetter’s motion for dismissal referred to “secret societies” such as the Freemasons and Skull and Bones (an undergraduate organization at Yale University), along with religious groups like Scientologists and Mormons. Hostetter claimed these elements conspired with a “classic FBI counterintelligence program operation” to target him after he spoke out against pandemic lockdowns.
“The government attempted to concoct, direct and supervise the enterprise from start to finish,” Hostetter wrote. “And even through their incessant efforts to direct defendant into criminal activity, he never engaged in criminal activity.”
Hostetter blames his co-defendants and fellow American Phoenix members for “organizing ‘fighters’ in chat rooms leading up to the event … displaying weapons, body armor, a kevlar helmet, and a gas mask … for all the world to see.”
A hearing has yet to be scheduled to rule on Hostetter’s new motion. He has said publicly that he is not considering a plea deal.
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