Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Director, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Posted on May 28, 2022
Former Army Reservist and alleged white supremacist found guilty in Capitol riot trial
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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/27/ [login to see] /former-army-reservist-and-alleged-white-supremacist-found-guilty-in-capitol-riot
A former Army reservist and security guard at a Naval weapons station was found guilty on all counts for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors portrayed Timothy Hale-Cusanelli of New Jersey as an extremist, who hoped for a second "civil war." The government presented evidence of Hale-Cusanelli using racist, antisemitic and anti-gay slurs, yelling obscenities at officers protecting the Capitol, and later enthusiastically boasting about breaching the building to a roommate. As jurors heard at trial, that roommate was secretly wearing a recording device on behalf of investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the FBI.
Hale-Cusanelli's defense did not dispute that he entered the building. As the defendant himself put it when he testified in his own defense, "I should not have been there." Instead, the defense argued that Hale-Cusanelli was prone to making "bombastic," "offensive," and "extreme" comments, which generally amounted to more talk than action. He was not charged with assaulting police or causing property damage. The defense also argued that Hale-Cusanelli did not travel to Washington with the specific goal of storming the Capitol, let alone disrupting the electoral count. Hale-Cusanelli testified that he could not have intended to disrupt Congress that day, because he did not realize that the Capitol was where Congress met.
A former Army reservist and security guard at a Naval weapons station was found guilty on all counts for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors portrayed Timothy Hale-Cusanelli of New Jersey as an extremist, who hoped for a second "civil war." The government presented evidence of Hale-Cusanelli using racist, antisemitic and anti-gay slurs, yelling obscenities at officers protecting the Capitol, and later enthusiastically boasting about breaching the building to a roommate. As jurors heard at trial, that roommate was secretly wearing a recording device on behalf of investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the FBI.
Hale-Cusanelli's defense did not dispute that he entered the building. As the defendant himself put it when he testified in his own defense, "I should not have been there." Instead, the defense argued that Hale-Cusanelli was prone to making "bombastic," "offensive," and "extreme" comments, which generally amounted to more talk than action. He was not charged with assaulting police or causing property damage. The defense also argued that Hale-Cusanelli did not travel to Washington with the specific goal of storming the Capitol, let alone disrupting the electoral count. Hale-Cusanelli testified that he could not have intended to disrupt Congress that day, because he did not realize that the Capitol was where Congress met.
Former Army Reservist and alleged white supremacist found guilty in Capitol riot trial
Posted from npr.org
FBI
Election 2020
Riots
Washington
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The Verdict
After three days of testimony, the jury began deliberations. Five and a half hours later, they returned a verdict: guilty on all counts.
NPR spoke to two jurors as they left the courthouse, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The jurors said the deliberations were "intense" at times, and three jurors were initially skeptical that Hale-Cusanelli intentionally breached the Capitol in order to obstruct Congress. Eventually, after hearing the other members of the jury explain their reasoning, those three jurors were convinced to convict.
One juror said Hale-Cusanelli's testimony actually hurt his case. "He wasn't credible at all," this juror said.
The other juror described Hale-Cusanelli's testimony as "contradictory," and was troubled to hear Hale-Cusanelli's antisemitic comments given his testimony that he is "half Jewish."
"I couldn't fathom how he slandered his own culture," this juror said.
In court, Judge Trevor McFadden also said he found Hale-Cusanelli's testimony that he did not know congress met in the U.S. Capitol "highly dubious." As a result, McFadden said he was open to a sentencing enhancement for obstruction or impeding of the administration of justice. He set the sentencing date for September 2022.
Standing outside the courthouse, Hughes, who describes herself as Hale-Cusanelli's "adoptive aunt," said he was "convicted because of words and for being offensive, and for no other reason." She called on other trials of Jan. 6 defendants to be moved out of Washington, DC, because, she said, "there will never be a fair and impartial jury in this city."
..."The Verdict
After three days of testimony, the jury began deliberations. Five and a half hours later, they returned a verdict: guilty on all counts.
NPR spoke to two jurors as they left the courthouse, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The jurors said the deliberations were "intense" at times, and three jurors were initially skeptical that Hale-Cusanelli intentionally breached the Capitol in order to obstruct Congress. Eventually, after hearing the other members of the jury explain their reasoning, those three jurors were convinced to convict.
One juror said Hale-Cusanelli's testimony actually hurt his case. "He wasn't credible at all," this juror said.
The other juror described Hale-Cusanelli's testimony as "contradictory," and was troubled to hear Hale-Cusanelli's antisemitic comments given his testimony that he is "half Jewish."
"I couldn't fathom how he slandered his own culture," this juror said.
In court, Judge Trevor McFadden also said he found Hale-Cusanelli's testimony that he did not know congress met in the U.S. Capitol "highly dubious." As a result, McFadden said he was open to a sentencing enhancement for obstruction or impeding of the administration of justice. He set the sentencing date for September 2022.
Standing outside the courthouse, Hughes, who describes herself as Hale-Cusanelli's "adoptive aunt," said he was "convicted because of words and for being offensive, and for no other reason." She called on other trials of Jan. 6 defendants to be moved out of Washington, DC, because, she said, "there will never be a fair and impartial jury in this city."
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