An alleged Capitol rioter’s arguable showmanship during a recently proceeding criminal trial on charges stemming from January 6 has led him to five months of prison.
Federal Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced Brandon Fellows to that stint of detention after closing arguments in the trial but before jury deliberations had concluded. Fellows, who was representing himself during the trial, had been combative, refusing to directly answer questions and expressing continued support for the general mindset that drove the Capitol attack back in 2021.
“We had to take the election back,” Fellows insisted during trial, as relayed by NBC. He also called sitting in a Senator’s chair at the Capitol as members of Congress feared for their lives “comfy.” “After the jury left the courtroom for a short break Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said he believed Fellows had forfeited his right to engage in a rebuttal because, when he answered the questions during the government’s cross-examination, he offered a running commentary and avoided answering yes-or-no questions,” according to the NBC report.
Fellows had also made motions for acquittal and a declaration of a mistrial, both of which McFadden rejected.
Former President Donald Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and others in their political corner have repeatedly expressed support for participants in the Capitol assault, often glossing over the substance of the already documented acts of violence committed there by so many. Targeting the judge handling Trump’s federal proceedings on charges of election interference, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has falsely characterized federal Judge Tanya Chutkan as having supported violent protests because of past statements arguably in support of the racial justice demonstrations seen in 2020. Gaetz ignores the many protests that were peaceful — and ignores his own arguable alliance with demonstrations with a massively higher rate of violence.
In other court news, Peter Navarro, the longtime ally to Trump, is going to trial very soon on contempt charges following his refusals to comply with the now inactive House committee that investigated the Capitol riot and various circumstances leading up to it.
Update to this: Judge McFadden held #Jan6 #CapitolRiot defendant Brandon Fellows, who insisted on representing himself, in CRIMINAL CONTEMPT and sentenced him to five months in jail for his conduct during the trial, per docket. He also awaits jury verdict. https://t.co/SBoRioTE6L pic.twitter.com/VfNXCIXyU1
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) August 29, 2023
