Randall Margraves, the father of two daughters, Madison and Lauren, who were sexually abused by sports doc Larry Nassar, charged at the former USA Gymnastics doctor in a packed Michigan courtroom. Margraves was tackled on the floor, and placed in handcuffs. The father of three daughters all molested by Nassar tried to attack the defendant.
“You son of a bitch!” Randall Margraves said to Nassar while at his sentencing hearing in Eaton County.
Margraves calmly asked Judge Janice Cunningham to “grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon.”
“Yes or no,” angry Margraves said to the judge, and Cunningham told him she could not do that.
“Would you give me one minute?” Margraves asked before running toward Nassar while he was seated at the defense table.
While Margraves was on the floor, he shouted: “Let me at him — the son of a bitch. I want that son of a bitch.”
“Give me one minute with that bastard,” he said.
After being tackled by the officers, Margraves was cuffed and led out of the courtroom amid cries from his daughters and wife, he said: “Where is he? What if this happened to you guys?”
Michigan Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis stepped in and told those in the courtroom sternly:
“We cannot behave like this. This is letting him have his power over us.”
“I don’t want to see another parent arrested or put in handcuffs,” Povilaitis said.
“You cannot do this. I understand Mr. Margraves’ frustration, but you cannot do this. Use your words, use your experiences. Do not use physical violence,” the longtime sex crimes prosecutor pleaded.
“Obviously what just occurred in the courtroom was scary and caused a lot of discomforts,” Cunningham said. “For all of you in the galley, I’m sorry that happened.”
The judge added: “My heart started beating fast and my legs felt shaky because of that quick eruption of violence.”
She said: “We cannot react by using physical violence and assault against someone who has performed criminal acts.”
“What Mr. Nassar did is horrible. It’s unthinkable, but please let the criminal justice system do what it is supposed to do and issue the punishment he should get,” Cunningham said.
Eaton County Sheriff’s Office said Margraves is being detained by a judge’s order “until an investigation can be completed.”
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