WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Army reservist described by prosecutors as a Nazi sympathizer was convicted Friday of storming the U.S. Capitol to impede Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who labored a safety contractor at a Navy base when he joined the pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, was additionally convicted of disorderly conduct and different misdemeanors.
Hale-Cussanelli took the stand in his protection and claimed he did not know that Congress met on the Capitol constructing.
“I do know this sounds idiotic, however I’m from New Jersey,” Hale-Cusanelli mentioned, in line with WUSA-TV. “In all my research, I didn’t know there was an precise constructing that was referred to as the ‘Capitol.’ It’s embarrassing and idiotic.”
Hale-Cusanelli’s trial was the fifth earlier than a jury and the seventh general for a Capitol riot case. The primary 4 juries unanimously convicted the riot defendants of all prices. Roughly 300 others have pleaded responsible to crimes stemming from the riot, together with seditious conspiracy and assault.
Prosecutors mentioned Hale-Cusanelli brazenly espoused white supremacist and antisemitic ideology and wore an Adolf Hitler-style mustache to work. On his cellphone, investigators discovered images of him with the distinctive mustache and combed-over coiffure related to the Nazi chief.
Hale-Cusanelli had a “secret” safety clearance for his job as a safety contractor at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He additionally lived on the bottom with a roommate who reported him to the Naval Prison Investigation Service and secretly recorded a conversion concerning the Capitol riot.
In the course of the trial’s opening statements Tuesday, a Justice Division prosecutor mentioned Hale-Cusanelli stormed the Capitol as a result of he needed to kick off a civil warfare and create “a clear slate.”
Protection lawyer Jonathan Crisp instructed jurors that “groupthink” and a determined need “to be heard” drove Hale-Cusanelli to comply with a mob into the Capitol. Crisp described Hale-Cusanelli as a bombastic agitator inclined to creating “excessive statements to get consideration.”
In pretrial courtroom filings, prosecutors framed Hale-Cusanelli’s bigoted, antisemitic views as motivating elements for his participation within the Jan. 6 riot and his need for a civil warfare.
One Navy seaman mentioned Hale-Cusanelli instructed him “he would kill all of the Jews and eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and he wouldn’t must season them as a result of the salt from their tears would make it flavorful sufficient,” in line with prosecutors. Different coworkers recalled Hale-Cusanelli making derogatory remarks about ladies, Black folks and different minorities, prosecutors mentioned.
Earlier than the trial, Crisp argued that any testimony about Hale-Cusanelli’s alleged statements about Jewish folks and their position within the U.S. authorities can be “extremely prejudicial in nature with out substantive worth.”
Crisp acknowledged Hale-Cusanelli shouldn’t have entered the Capitol constructing.
“However the query of why he was there’s what’s vital,” he instructed jurors Tuesday.
Hale-Cusanelli wasn’t charged with partaking in any violence or property destruction. He was indicted on 5 counts: obstruction of an official continuing, coming into or remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds, disorderly or harmful conduct in a restricted constructing or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol constructing, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol constructing.
The obstruction cost is a felony. The remainder are misdemeanors.
Crisp mentioned Hale-Cusanelli believed then-President Donald Trump’s false claims a few stolen election. However the protection lawyer mentioned Hale-Cusanelli went to Washington to peacefully protest, carrying a swimsuit whereas many others wore tactical gear.
A video captured Hale-Cusanelli yelling profanities at cops and screaming, “The revolution can be televised!”
“This was not a peaceable protest,” Assistant U.S. Lawyer Kathryn Fifield mentioned.
Greater than 800 folks have been charged with Capitol crimes stemming from the riot. A lot of then are navy veterans. Hale-Cusanelli is amongst a number of defendants who have been on energetic responsibility on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Choose Trevor McFadden, who presided over Hale-Cusanelli’s trial, determined two different Capitol riot instances after listening to testimony with out a jury. McFadden acquitted one of many defendants of all prices and partially acquitted the opposite after bench trials.
Hale-Cusanelli was arrested lower than two weeks after the assault and has remained jailed since February 2021. He was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserves and barred from the Navy base after his arrest.
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