(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Jan. 6 defendant Dominic Pezzola filed a motion Thursday morning to have government’s case against him dismissed, arguing that the recent revelations from Fox News host Tucker Carlson show that he did not violently breach Capitol Hill.
Pezzola is one of the defendants in the ongoing Proud Boys sedition conspiracy trial, along with Zachary Rehl, Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs.
Prosecutors have claimed that Pezzola and the others caused Congress to go into recess by entering the Capitol on January 6.
In his motion to dismiss, Pezzola said that no Jan. 6 demonstrators ever entered the House Chamber, where the vote to certify the 2020 presidential election was taking place. And while Jan. 6 protestors did breach the Senate chamber, they did so because of the actions of U.S. Capitol Police, as the newly released Jan. 6 surveillance footage aired by Carlson shows.
“On March 6, Tucker Carlson released shocking footage from January 6th, 2021, that showed “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley walking calmly through the halls of the Capitol with two Capitol Police officers. At one point, one of the officers appears to try opening a door or elevator, and then turns and leads Chansley in another direction,” Pezzola said.
“Later in the video clips, Chansley is seen walking past nine police officers gathered in a hallway intersection. Chansley and his police escorts walk right past the nine officers without any resistance.”
Pezzola said he most disturbing footage of all, for him, is video shown of Chansley kneeling in a prayer amid a group of around two dozen demonstrators and cops in the Senate Chamber. Chansley is shown giving a respectful prayer of thanks to the Capitol Police officers for “letting us into the building.”
The footage of what Pezzola described can be seen here:
I was told the QAnon shaman was leading an insurrection not the one who is being led by police throughout the capital building. No wonder all the footage was kept from us for 2 years.
As always they lied to us all! pic.twitter.com/nzWWIgryiz— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 7, 2023
Pezzola argued that the footage is “plainly exculpatory” because it establishes that the Senate chamber was never violently breached and, in fact, was treated respectfully by Jan. 6 protestors.
“To the extent protestors entered the chamber, they did so under the supervision of Capitol Police. The Senators on January 6 could have continued proceedings,” he argued.
“It was not Pezzola or codefendants who caused the Congress to recess. Congress interrupted its own proceedings.”
Pezzola’s trial was scheduled to resume today, but prosecutors reportedly notified the presiding judge that they may have inadvertently disclosed classified information to the defense. Nordean’s counsel also accused the FBI of spying on privileged attorney-client communications.
The presiding judge paused the trial for the day to hash out these matters.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
