A speaker at ex-President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally on Saturday painted her nephew, an alleged Nazi sympathizer named Timothy Hale-Cusanelli who was convicted over his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as a victim of political oppression.
Cynthia Hughes, who founded a support group for Jan. 6 defendants known as the “Patriot Freedom Project,” lamented in her speech that Hale-Cusanelli was “languishing behind the walls of a D.C. jail” and claimed that he and his fellow Jan. 6 insurrectionists were being denied due process.
Hughes described how Hale-Cusanelli had “served his country” as a former Army reservist (he was fired after Jan. 6) and was “dressed in a suit and tie” when he went to the Capitol.
However, Hughes failed to mention that her nephew, who was found guilty of obstruction in May, openly espoused neo-Nazi views, according to evidence provided by prosecutors and accounts from Hale-Cusanelli’s own (now former) coworkers.
Instances of Hale-Cusanelli allegedly aligning himself with Nazism include telling coworkers that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “should have finished the job,” going to work with a Hitler mustache and repeatedly making anti-Semitic comments.
Prosecutors also presented photos of Hale-Cusanelli showing off a Hitler-inspired look:
Hughes’ shout-out to her alleged neo-Nazi nephew at Trump’s rally comes as Republicans shriek over President Joe Biden’s speech in which he warned that the ex-president and his GOP loyalists are pro-authoritarianism and threats to democracy.
Furrs!
I’m sure he and Stephen Miller would have lots to talk about, and become fast friends! So heartwarming
Don’t forget Boris Epshteyn!
Does this guy admire Hilter because he happens to look like him with the right hair cut and some strategic cheek inflation and jaw positioning? I’m thinking this started out as a joke in high school. They warned him that his face would get stuck that way, but would he listen?
He will never be as great as the master
(CNN)A January 6 rioter and alleged White supremacist was convicted Friday on all five charges he faced after hitching his case to the claim that he didn’t know Congress met at the United States Capitol.
“I thought there were several buildings called ‘Capitol building,’” Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, an alleged Nazi sympathizer and Army reservist, told the jury Thursday, adding that he was “from New Jersey” and was “idiotic” and ignorant. “I did not realize that Congress met in the Capitol.”
Several jurors rolled their eyes during this explanation and Hale-Cusanelli later said he was knowledgeable regarding the workings of the Electoral College process and American politics generally, which he took classes on in college…
By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
Updated 4:51 PM ET, Fri May 27, 2022