A man calling himself Hitler was sentenced to four years in prison for raiding the Capitol in January 2021 for attempting to block confirmation of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory over former President Donald Trump. Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli, 32, will also have to pay a $2,000 fine.
According to the US Department of Justice and US newspaper The New York Times, the defendant was working as a security guard at a maritime station in New Jersey (USA) when he joined the pro-Trump mob that occupied the Capitol.
He was one of the first protesters to enter the Capitol shortly after the invasion began. The accused made offensive and insulting remarks, saying that a “revolution” was imminent against Capitol Police officers. The now convicted person remained in the building for about 40 minutes.
He was convicted in a May trial on five counts, including obstructing the approval of the 2020 election results, which took place in a joint session of Congress on January 1. According to Sentencing Judge Trevor N. McFadden, his case was notable for its “racist and anti-Semitic motivation.”
Hale-Cusanelli, who had undercover security clearance at the time of the attack, defended herself and claimed she did not know that Congress would meet on Capitol Hill. Because it didn’t make sense, the judge said his version was a “ludicrous lie” and “a blatant attempt to evade responsibility”.
Worse still, in a memo filed last week came the story of Hale-Cusanelli telling a roommate at the navy station that she was excited about the invasion of the Capitol. He likened the action to a war with anti-Semitic statements, as he wanted to “eliminate entrenched interests” and “eliminate Jewish interests by manipulating the media and big corporations, the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, and the government” in the United States. all”.
Judge McFadden believes that Hale-Cusanelli’s actions are a depiction of “deep hostility and insensitivity” towards ethnic and religious minorities and have significant ramifications, including the recent increase in anti-Semitic attacks across the country.
Prosecutors did not see all this evidence of his extremist thinking, despite saying that Hale-Cusanelli “subscribed to the ideologies of white supremacy and Nazi sympathizers.” “At best, he is extremely tolerant of violence and death. What he did on January 6 was not activism, it was the beginning of his civil war.”
Nicholas Smith, who was part of Hale-Cusanelli’s defense, acknowledged the client’s “outrageous and childish” comments, but claimed he did not commit the same crimes as the other suspects who brought guns to the Capitol and attacked police officers. He even blamed the boy’s behavior for a difficult upbringing and estrangement from his parents.
source: Noticias