Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was within the U.S. Military Reserves when he stormed the Capitol, was convicted Friday on all 5 counts he confronted, together with a felony cost of obstruction of an official continuing.
Hale-Cusanelli, who has been in jail since Feb. 2021, didn’t dispute that he entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, and his protection lawyer explicitly admitted that Hale-Cusanelli engaged in felony exercise that day. Video exhibits Hale-Cusanelli yelling at cops outdoors the Capitol, coming into the Capitol moments after it was breached, waving different members of the mob into the constructing, and trying to seize one other rioter away from police.
Yeah, that seems like a fairly open-and-shut case. Even a diehard, rule-of-law-flouting Trumpy would have a tough time arguing he was—oh, what recent hell is that this?
However Hale-Cusanelli tried to defend himself in opposition to prices by saying he did not know that the Capitol was the place the Home and Senate sit — regardless of having described himself throughout the trial as a historical past buff who intently adopted the electoral school certification course of. He claimed in testimony on Thursday that he did not notice that senators and Home members have been within the Capitol constructing on Jan. 6.
Sheesh. That’s some expert-level gaslighting proper there. Was Ted Cruz within the bushes like Cyrano de Bergerac, feeding this man his strains? Or was he within the bushes doing common Ted-Cruz-crouching-in-the-bushes issues? To be clear, I don’t actually know what Ted Cruz does within the bushes, or if he’s even within the bushes in any respect. I actually don’t need to know. My guess is no matter he’s doing is at the least tangentially linked to elective surgical procedure on home pets, however these are simply rumors. Rumors that I made up mere moments in the past. However they feel true, don’t they? Anyway, this isn’t about Cruz. It’s about Capitol insurrectionists and Hitler. Okay, that’s near being about Cruz, however I’m beginning to concern I’ve misplaced the plot. So on with the story.
In keeping with reviews, Hale-Cusanelli instructed a federal prosecutor, “I did not know the Capitol constructing was the identical because the congressional constructing.” He used the identical unlikely protection when interesting to the jury: “I do know this sounds idiotic, however I am from New Jersey. I really feel like an fool, it sounds idiotic, and it’s.”
After all, whether or not or not Hale-Cusanelli knew Congress met on the Capitol is a crucial element, as prosecutors wanted to indicate that he acted “knowingly” when he tried to “impede, affect, and impede an official continuing.” And someplace alongside the road he obtained the concept that flatly asserting the truth of things that were obviously false was an effective strategy.
Hale-Cusanelli ought to have loads of time to brush up on his civics. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 16, and Decide Trevor N. McFadden, a Trump appointee, stated he was contemplating a sentencing enhancement as a result of Hale-Cusanelli’s testimony appeared “extremely doubtful.”
By the way in which, along with balls-out-rocking the “Crystal Meth Hitler” look, Hale-Cusanelli has flirted shamelessly with white supremacy prior to now. In keeping with prosecutors, the defendant was arrested in 2010 for utilizing a potato gun adorned with a Accomplice flag and the phrases “WHITE IS RIGHT” to shoot frozen corn at homes in New Jersey.
He additionally reportedly despatched racist texts, together with one which stated Democrats would attempt to steal the election by means of “n****r rigging.”
We will solely hope Hale-Cusanelli makes essentially the most of his time in jail. Possibly he can knock off each choice in Donald Trump’s Nazi Book Club. Or, if he actually needs to amass a fuller understanding of the world, he may simply watch this:
