A lawyer for the QAnon Shaman who claims his client was following President Trump's invitation when he stormed the US Capitol says a lot of the MAGA rioters are 'retarded' and on the 'goddamn spectrum'.
Jacob Chansley, the self-described QAnon Shaman who was pictured inside the US Capitol wearing a horned hat, is among those awaiting potential prison sentences after being charged over the January 6 riots.
In an expletive-laden interview with Talking Points Memo, Chansley's attorney Albert Watkins suggested that his 33-year-old client's mental state and Trump's so-called 'propaganda' would play a role in his case.
'These are people with brain damage, they're f***ing retarded, they're on the goddamn spectrum.
Jacob Chansley, the self-described QAnon Shaman who was pictured inside the US Capitol wearing a horned hat, is among those awaiting potential prison sentences after being charged over the January 6 riots
'But they're our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our coworkers - they're part of our country. These aren't bad people, they don't have prior criminal history.
'F**k, they were subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since f**ing Hitler.'
In an expletive-laden interview with Talking Points Memo , Chansley's attorney Albert Watkins suggested that his 33-year-old client's mental state and Trump's so-called 'propaganda' would play a role in his case
Watkins noted that his client, who remains jailed on charges of civil disorder and five other counts, has Asperger's syndrome.
The attorney had previously tried to argue that Trump was to blame for Chansley's actions the day he stormed the Capitol carrying a spear draped with an American flag.
He told the judge during a pre-trial hearing in March that Chansley had gone to the Capitol 'like Forrest Gump' at Trump's invitation.
'We're not dealing with a man of violence,' Watkins said.
'They genuinely believed in the truth of what was being asserted by the highest hired hand in the land, the president.'
He had claimed that Trump had drawn Chansley into a web of lies.
Watkins had argued that Chansley believed police were allowing him and other protesters to enter the Capitol building, which his client later repeated in an interview with 60 Minutes from jail.
Watkins noted that his client, who remains jailed on charges of civil disorder and five other counts, has Asperger's syndrome
The attorney had previously tried to argue that Trump was to blame for Chansley's actions because he'd dragged him into a web of lies. Trump is pictured at the Save America Rally before rioters stormed the Capitol
The judge later branded Chansley a liar after footage submitted by the prosecution showed him standing atop scaffolding while rioters clashed with police officers below.
He was later filmed walking through a doorway into the Capitol after rioters broke windows.
'The government's video shows that defendant blatantly lied during his interview with 60 Minutes+ when he said that police officers waved him into the building,' the judge wrote.
'Further, this video confirms that defendant did not, as defense counsel claims, enter the building' contemporaneously with the exiting by Capitol Police.' […] Nor did he enter, as defence counsel represents, in the 'third wave' of the breach. To the contrary, he quite literally spearheaded it.'
The attorney for another Capitol rioter, Anthony Antonio, has previously blamed 'Foxitis' for his client's role because he spent hours after home during the COVID-19 pandemic watching Fox News and Trump's claims of a stolen election.
Joe Hurley told Talking Points that his prior Foxitis remarks were not a defense but rather 'pointing the finger of accusation where it belongs: to the slithery snake', referring to Trump.
'I want to separate him out from that herd of thugs that belong behind bars to set an example for the rest of the thugs that are out there,' Hurley said.
The attorney for another Capitol rioter, Anthony Antonio, (above) has previously blamed 'Foxitis' for his client's role because he spent hours after home during the COVID-19 pandemic watching Fox News
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