WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – In the Capitol violence case, Thomas Hale-Cusanelli, an Army reservist and alleged Nazi sympathiser who worked as a private contractor and resided on base with security high security clearance at the Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey before to his arrest, was tried and convicted on 5 counts ranging from disorderly conduct to obstruction.
The jurors in this instance, though, did not see photographs of Hale-Cusanelli with a mustache akin to Adolf Hitler’s. They were, however, provided social media images, audio and video, along with text messages, involving his conduct before and after the Capitol assault on January 6.
Hale-Cusanelli had many chats concerning election fraud in those messages, that were dated as far as Oct 2020 and were recited out loud by state witnesses. He also used anti-Semitic, racist, anti-Black, and homophobic slurs, according to the messages. He would subsequently testify during the trial that he was half-Jewish and Puerto Rican. According to ABC NEWS, Hale-Cusanelli used derogatory words against Vice President Kamala Harris in those same text conversations.
He remarked in a text message the day after Election Day that the election was “definitely rigged.” Jurors saw a video from January 6 in which Hale-Cusanelli declared, “America First is inevitable.”
Hale-Cusanelli, who was clean-shaven when he took the witness in his own defense on Thursday, told the 14-person jury that he had no idea the US Congress gathered in the Capitol. Earlier in the case, however, federal prosecutors examined extensive text exchanges in which Hale-Cusanelli addressed the electoral college, his belief that the election was rigged, and the roles of legislators in the election in states such as Arizona, Ohio, and Georgia.
According to the government, Hale-Cusanelli posted and then removed YouTube uploads under the name ‘The Based Hermes Show,’ in which he offered radical political beliefs and opinions, and concealed evidence dating back to January 6, along with a flagpole and clothing.
The trial is being heard by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee who has already acquitted 2 other people in separate cases on Jan. 6. Couy Griffin, the leader of “Cowboys For Trump,” was acquitted on one of the 2 charges, while the other accused was acquitted on all counts.
Griffin drove to Hagerstown, Maryland, hours after the partial acquittal to speak to the People’s Convoy, a now-defunct trucker convoy, where he declared that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be “locked up.”
