Assault on the Capitol (DC)

[Kendra]

Sounds like this will be over before he gets his own thread, so I'm sticking it here. Thread below of today's testimony. Bench trial, misdemeanor charge I think. Scott says verdict at 2PM.

In DC court, I’m watching a Jan 6 defendant on the stand under questioning. Matthew Martin is being cross examined and just acknowledged taking photos of “blood on the concrete” and texting after riot: “Our numbers were freakin huge!”

[Kendra]

Judge Trevor McFadden finished hearing testimony and closing arguments in Jan. 6 defendant Matthew Martin's bench trial, and is taking a break. He'll resume at 2pm, likely to announce the verdict.

Some highlights from the morning's proceedings:

[Kendra]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justic ... -rcna22384

WASHINGTON — Aided by citizen sleuths who keep identifying Jan. 6 rioters, the Justice Department is finding that it has more cases than lawyers to prosecute them.

Fifteen months after a mob stormed the Capitol in support of then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, more than 775 defendants have been arrested. More than 225 have pleaded guilty so far, and two have been convicted at trial: one by a jury and one by a judge. More than 50 have been sentenced to prison.

That leaves more than 500 active cases that still need to be resolved, either by plea deal or trial.

The Justice Department is asking Congress for additional funds to prosecute those cases — a list that keeps growing.

The delayed arrests have had an impact. In one instance, a man who was identified to the FBI in February 2021 as a person who flashed a gun on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6 went on to fatally stab a 19-year-old in a park in Salt Lake City.

[Flatpoint High]

Martin was acquitted on all misdemeanor charges:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zo ... not-guilty

A federal judge on Wednesday found that a New Mexico man “reasonably believed” that police officers let him into the US Capitol during the Jan. 6 breach, finding defendant Matthew Martin not guilty of all charges.

Announcing his decision from the bench, US District Judge Trevor McFadden said that although prosecutors argued there were numerous instances when Martin would have been aware that he wasn’t allowed on Capitol grounds or inside the building — as he walked past fences with signs saying “AREA CLOSED” and recorded video of a broken window, blaring alarms, police in riot gear, and people who appeared to have encountered tear gas — those were outweighed by Martin’s “plausible” belief that he had permission because officers didn’t try to stop him from entering.

McFadden said that Martin’s conduct was as “minimal and non-serious” as the judge could imagine for someone who went into the Capitol on Jan. 6. He said that Martin seemed to be a “silent observer” of the scene and didn’t try to crowd the police, protest, or wave the “Trump” flag that he was carrying.

[raison de arizona]

Martin was acquitted on all misdemeanor charges:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zo ... not-guilty

A federal judge on Wednesday found that a New Mexico man “reasonably believed” that police officers let him into the US Capitol during the Jan. 6 breach, finding defendant Matthew Martin not guilty of all charges.

Announcing his decision from the bench, US District Judge Trevor McFadden said that although prosecutors argued there were numerous instances when Martin would have been aware that he wasn’t allowed on Capitol grounds or inside the building — as he walked past fences with signs saying “AREA CLOSED” and recorded video of a broken window, blaring alarms, police in riot gear, and people who appeared to have encountered tear gas — those were outweighed by Martin’s “plausible” belief that he had permission because officers didn’t try to stop him from entering.

McFadden said that Martin’s conduct was as “minimal and non-serious” as the judge could imagine for someone who went into the Capitol on Jan. 6. He said that Martin seemed to be a “silent observer” of the scene and didn’t try to crowd the police, protest, or wave the “Trump” flag that he was carrying.

WTF even is this nonsense?

[Flatpoint High]

Martin was acquitted on all misdemeanor charges:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zo ... not-guilty

A federal judge on Wednesday found that a New Mexico man “reasonably believed” that police officers let him into the US Capitol during the Jan. 6 breach, finding defendant Matthew Martin not guilty of all charges.

Announcing his decision from the bench, US District Judge Trevor McFadden said that although prosecutors argued there were numerous instances when Martin would have been aware that he wasn’t allowed on Capitol grounds or inside the building — as he walked past fences with signs saying “AREA CLOSED” and recorded video of a broken window, blaring alarms, police in riot gear, and people who appeared to have encountered tear gas — those were outweighed by Martin’s “plausible” belief that he had permission because officers didn’t try to stop him from entering.

McFadden said that Martin’s conduct was as “minimal and non-serious” as the judge could imagine for someone who went into the Capitol on Jan. 6. He said that Martin seemed to be a “silent observer” of the scene and didn’t try to crowd the police, protest, or wave the “Trump” flag that he was carrying.

WTF even is this nonsense?

Damned if I know

[Phoenix520]

Thé révolution is being televised.

[RTH10260]

Martin was acquitted on all misdemeanor charges:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zo ... not-guilty

WTF even is this nonsense?

Damned if I know

That was the Republican discourse part, the touristy side

[Dave from down under]

Judicial approval to overthrow the Republic.

[Slim Cognito]

Well, I guess everyone has their defense strategy now.

[Kriselda Gray]

I hope that won't be some kind of precedent (in the colloquial sense, not the strictly legal one) that other judges will decide lets them off the hook for punishing these dangerous idiots.

[pipistrelle]

McFadden, one of the court’s newer judges confirmed under former president Donald Trump

[Frater I*I]

McFadden, one of the court’s newer judges confirmed under former president Donald Trump

Natch....

[Gregg]

Buggs McKirksey was aquitted on bank robbery charges today in a bench trial. The Judge, Maga McConnel, found that even though McKirksey got away with $23,000 and was carrying a fully automatic AK-47 as well as an RPG Anti Tank Missile, he was minimally violent and no one was injured.
The Judge found his carrying of the firearms was in accordance with Ohio Open Carry Laws and was not in fact related to the unconventional overdraft.

Right?

[DrIrvingFinegarten]

I hope that won't be some kind of precedent (in the colloquial sense, not the strictly legal one) that other judges will decide lets them off the hook for punishing these dangerous idiots.

The insurrection apologists constantly pointed to videos of police letting them in as evidence that it was a setup and Nancy Pelosi was behind the whole thing.

It doesn’t make sense to me but maybe it doesn’t have to make sense.

[Kendra]

Robert Flynn Fairchild’s plea hearing is likely going to be pushed back because his federal public defender tested positive for COVID-19 this morning.

[Kendra]

“Follow me! My name is Bill Wilson and I’m 70 years old… I’m going inside... Push me! You want to change the world? Push me!"

From police body-worn camera footage from Jan. 6 released in connection with the Thomas Robertson trial this week:

[DrIrvingFinegarten]

I kind of get the idea that because so many of the terrorists were “decent people “ police, military, business owners, professionals, soccer moms, etc., there’s no real stomach for sentencing them to any real time.

[Kendra]

“I was in the military,” says this Jan. 6 participant, who seems to know a lot about gas masks.

"You can come and join us… you know what you’re doing is immoral,” he tells the officer. “I loved seeing you guys get your asses handed to you."

“So all of us are committing a felony right now? We’re already committing a felony!”

[raison de arizona]

Man charged in Jan. 6 riot backs out of plea deal after fellow defendant acquitted
The acquittal of Matthew Martin was the "proverbial straw that broke the camel's back" for defendant Shawn Witzemann, his attorney told NBC News.

A man charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol backed out of a planned plea deal with the government Thursday, just one day after a federal judge acquitted another defendant.

Shawn Witzemann, who faces four misdemeanor charges, was scheduled to plead guilty next, but he changed his mind after U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, found former federal contractor Matthew Martin not guilty during a bench trial.

McFadden said prosecutors did not prove that Martin knowingly entered a restricted building, and that Martin may have believed that police officers had let him into the building.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justic ... -rcna23517

I expect he’ll find his DC judge not nearly as accommodating.

[Kendra]

Alert. An accused Proud Boys conspirator is about to cut plea deal with the Justice Dept. Charles Donahoe has court hearing later this morning. I’m covering it. We’ll see if he agrees to cooperate. Other plea deals have required cooperation

This is a potential blockbuster and a new high water mark for the Justice Dept. It comes weeks after Enrique Tarrio was charged.

[Kendra]

“The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.”

NEW: A Jan. 6 defendant’s lawyer confirms to me that his client backed out of a plea deal because Trump-appointed Judge Trevor McFadden acquitted another Capitol defendant at a bench trial this week.

[Kendra]

Donohoe is now under oath..... appearing virtually before federal judge Timothy Kelly

This image was part of the court filings from Justice Dept.. earlier in case ====>

[Kendra]

MEGGS, sounding distraught, says he doesn't know how he's going to find a new lawyer since he has limited ability to make calls and access internet while incarcerated.

"I can’t even try to defend myself at this point," he said.

[p0rtia]

Holy shit. The Proud Boys plan laid out in quite some detail.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... of-offense