Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough conducted redirect of Agent Camillieri and asked her to clarify some of what she said under cross-examination by defense attorney Norm Pattis. Pattis represents Proud Boy Joe Biggs.
On Tuesday, Pattis asked the special agent about a quote in her notes about the Proud Boys Parler posts. The quote she jotted down was from H.L. Mencken: “Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats.”
The reason Camillieri jotted that quote down, she explained, was because Tarrio’s post on Nov. 12, 2020 brought it to mind.
Tarrio urged on Parler: “Fuck unity. No quarter. Raise the black flag.”
This seemed to follow Mencken’s thoughts, she said.
And as far as a note she took stating, “there was no agreement because they couldn’t settle on a plan” — that was her idea to include the note, she said, but it was in reference to what she believed the defense’s position would be.
Her position, she testified, was that the Proud Boys intended to stop the certification of the 2020 election and had reached an agreement to do so.
Defense attorneys seized on these handwritten notes on Tuesday, suggesting that the agent was improperly weighing in, putting her opinions first, and not the facts.
McCullough also had the agent review how the defendants interacted on Parler. Defense attorneys suggested during cross that it was impossible to know why a defendant might “upvote” content on Parler and suggested upvotes could be for anything at all, including things as innocuous as cat pictures or recipes.
Providing an example, McCullough had Camillieri review a Nov. 15 post by Tarrio that defendant Rehl “upvoted.”
“Last week, many people were stabbed by BLM,” Tarrio wrote. This week, that isn’t going to happen. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you get a helmet to the fucking face.”
Questions under redirect then moved to matters of protected speech:
Not long after this, Judge Kelly decided to break for lunch. Jurors were excused and a somewhat tense exchange ensued.
Prosecutor McCullough wishes to enter a video into evidence during redirect that allegedly shows Rehl engaging in violence. It is from 2018, however.
He wishes to enter the video so he can elaborate and redirect her remarks about the “culture of violence” among Proud Boys. Camillieri was asked a very narrow set of questions when under cross about whether there was a “culture of violence” or a “culture of hyperbole” among the Proud Boys.
Sometimes it would seem there was a culture of violence, she said. Other times, and particularly in those instances provided to her by the defense, there was not. Overall, however, she testified she felt this was the prevailing feature of the organization.
Judge Kelly initially said he was not inclined to let the video in because it lacked relevance and was “too attenuated.” He said he would reach a decision after the day’s lunch break.
McCullough also raised a grievance about the way Nick Smith, the defense attorney for Ethan Nordean, questioned the special agent.
McCullough said Smith “chastised” the special agent in front of jurors by telling her, “you’re wrong, that’s not in evidence.”
“Your honor, she has a right to be rehabilitated after being chastised by defense counsel, The questions of violence this jury has seen? All these defendants have attempted to distance themselves from it. Tarrio said all he does is wear a vest and a hat and walk around to try to keep people from committing violence. When Mr. Smith raises the question and say [to the agent], ‘you didn’t see any of the defendants engaged in violence?’; this witness, in this narrow section of data, has an answer and she answered it and she’s entitled fully to answer the question,” McCullough said.
Defense attorney Smith argued that he did not chastise the witness and that he was trying to clarify something in his exchange with the special agent about the relation of video footage to Jan. 6, not earlier rallies in November or December.
As to the rehabilitation of the witness, Judge Kelly remarked: