Proud Boy argues that Tucker Carlson's misleading January 6 footage should be reason to dismiss his seditious-conspiracy case
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
- Tucker Carlson's January 6 footage has been brought up in a January 6 seditious conspiracy trial.
- Lawyers representing a Proud Boys member asked a federal judge to dismiss his case.
- "This footage is plainly exculpatory," the lawyers wrote in a court filing.
Lawyers representing one of the five Proud Boys members charged with seditious conspiracy in connection to the January 6 riot asked the judge to dismiss the case on Thursday, pointing to Capitol security footage played on Fox New host Tucker Carlson's show as their defense.
"This footage is plainly exculpatory; as it establishes that the Senate chamber was never violently breached, and—in fact—was treated respectfully by January 6 protestors," lawyers for Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola said in a court filing. "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."
The lawyers argued that federal prosecutors "withheld" the security footage from their client, and asked US District Judge Timothy Kelly to toss out the indictment, which alleges that Pezzola, along with four other Proud Boys, conspired to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election.
Pezzola was one of the first rioters to storm the Capitol on January 6, breaking the building's glass window with a stolen police shield, according to prosecutors. He and the co-defendants — Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl — have pleaded not guilty.
Carlson's Monday evening show, in which he selectively aired clips from more than 40,000 hours of Capitol security footage provided to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has attracted widespread criticism from both the left and right. The broadcast excluded footage of rioters violently clashing with law enforcement officials that day.
The US Capitol Police chief and congressional Democrats and Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have ripped into Carlson for "cherry-picking" footage and downplaying the January 6 attack as a peaceful protest.
In their court filing, Pezzola's lawyers said Carlson displayed "shocking footage" that showed Jacob Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, "walking calmly" through the Capitol and police officers escorting him into the Senate chamber. The lawyers cited the Washington Post's reporting that Albert Watkins, Chansley's lawyer, never saw that footage during his client's case.
"Pezzola, likewise, has had a right to the same footage. Yet the government has withheld it," Pezzola's lawyers wrote.
The Justice Department said on Tuesday that Carlson's aired videos should not be used to delay criminal trials related to January 6, claiming that "nearly all of the footage" has been available to defendants. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment.
It's not the first time the Proud Boys members have asked for their case to be dismissed. The defense lawyers have made repeated requests for a mistrial, which Kelly, a Trump appointee, has denied.
One of the most significant cases to emerge out of the January 6 riot, the trial is now in its second month. It was also delayed on Thursday because federal prosecutors might have accidentally shared classified material to the defense attorneys. The trial is set to continue on Monday.