An outright Nazi insurrectionist standing trial over his involvement in the Capitol attack will benefit greatly from a Trump-appointed judge’s decision to bar prosecutors from entering evidence about his extremism. Prior to his involvement in the insurrection, Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was such a blatant Nazi that dozens of coworkers testified about his admiration for Hitler and calls for genocide against Jewish people. Hale-Cusanelli was known for sporting a Hitler-style mustache at times and was such a blatant white supremacist that his own lawyers proposed voir dire questions like, “Do you think someone who impersonates Adolf Hitler, satirical or otherwise, is a person who would want to overthrow the government?”
Questions like that will be notably absent in the trial against Hale-Cusanelli, who faces charges of civil disorder, aiding and abetting, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, impeding ingress and egress in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and demonstrating in a Capitol building. The Army reservist, who was kicked out of the military following his arrest last year, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden’s logic on preventing jurors from getting to know the real Hale-Cusanelli—an avowed Nazi and white supremacist who flat-out admit he wished that Hitler “finished the job”—is because it may make jurors more inclined to find him guilty. “The visceral reaction to the defendant’s statements is exactly the kind of response that could induce the jury into finding him guilty,” McFadden said during a conference ahead of the trial, which is set to begin on May 23.
McFadden, a Trump-appointed judge who’s publicly stated that non-violent insurrectionists shouldn’t get “serious jail time,” has issued some interesting rulings when it comes to folks who stormed the Capitol. He issued the first acquittal of an insurrectionist last month, claiming that video evidence showed police allowed Matthew Martin to enter the Capitol, therefore he was in the clear to go on in and threaten our democracy. “People were streaming by and the officers made no attempt to stop the people,” McFadden said. Martin claimed he was waved into the rotunda by an officer, which—regardless of law enforcement’s perceived gestures—doesn’t negate the fact that it’s illegal to storm the Capitol.
It’s worth noting that, in the case of Hale-Cusanelli, being an outright Nazi absolutely would further indict him. Countless comparisons have been made about the insurrection being the U.S. equivalent of Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch, an attempted coup in which Hitler’s lies fomented an angry mob of supporters who violently pushed for a “national revolution” to advance their anti-Semitic white supremacist agenda. The primary difference in terms of consequences for the Beer Hall Putsch is that Hitler actually faced them: He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in prison. Donald Trump, the ex-president who conned his supporters into storming the Capitol over baseless claims of a rigged election, remains free and has faced few consequences. Given McFadden’s conduct as more and more insurrectionists are tried for their crimes, Hale-Cusanelli and his ilk may not have much to worry about when it comes to being found guilty.