A Jan. 6 defendant, in opening arguments at his trial before a jury on Wednesday, compared himself to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and said that he liked that members of Congress were fearing for their lives during the Capitol attack.
Brandon Fellows was initially arrested 10 days after the Capitol riot in January 2021. He first faced misdemeanor charges, but was later indicted on a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting.
Fellows had been held in pretrial custody since mid-2021. He was detained because while he was on pretrial release in his Jan. 6 case, he called the mother of his probation officer and also reportedly harassed a former girlfriend, in violation of a state protection order. In recent court filings, he called U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden corrupt and biased.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 defendant, in opening arguments at his trial before a jury on Wednesday, compared himself to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and said that he liked that members of Congress were fearing for their lives during the Capitol attack.
He was detained because while he was on pretrial release in his Jan. 6 case, he called the mother of his probation officer and also reportedly harassed a former girlfriend, in violation of a state protection order.
The defendant referenced Elon Musk, calling the owner of the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, a “high-functioning person” he looked up to, and said that people with Asperger’s “are more susceptible to manipulation.”
He said jurors should understand why Kavanaugh was emotional and angry when the then-Supreme Court nominee spoke of the allegations against him during his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolina Nevin delivered a more somber opening statement that sought to diffuse the “almost comedic” nature of Fellow’s actions during the riot.
Nevin also showed jurors excerpts from social media posts made by Fellows after the riot in which he expressed pride in his actions and said he hoped members of Congress would “live in constant fear.”
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