A judge has ruled that prosecutor cannot bring up the antisemitic history of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli at his trial for storming the Capitol on January 6th, CBS reports.
Federal investigators were told by at least 34 coworkers at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, New Jersey, that Hale-Cusanelli was openly racist and would walk around wearing a Hitler-esque mustache. He also told a coworker that if he had been a Nazi “he would kill all the Jews and eat them for breakfast,” and that “Hitler should have finished the job.”
Hale-Cusanelli also had a YouTube channel named Based Hermes, where he peddled antisemitic conspiracy theories and bashed Orthodox Jews who live in Lakewood.
When his trial begins on May 23rd, jurors will not get to hear any of that, however. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that none of his antisemitic comments are admissible as evidence, though he did allow prosecutors to show that Hale-Cusanelli wanted a civil war and wanted to “purge Congress.”
“The visceral reaction to the defendant’s statements is exactly the kind of response that could induce the jury into finding him guilty,” Judge McFadden said.
Hale-Cusanelli was previously ordered held in jail until his trial due to his antisemitic statements and beliefs, which could make him a threat to Jewish people.