A decorated Army veteran who is charged with assaulting police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is saying President Joe Biden is influencing the jury against him, according to a new report from The Fayetteville Observer.
Jeffrey McKellop, 57, wants his case dismissed because Biden “has intentionally and irreparably poisoned the entire nation as a jury pool.”
McKellop cited Biden's speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia last month where the president said Donald Trump and his supporters "represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic," adding that not all Republicans are “MAGA Republicans."
Biden went on to say that MAGA Republicans "do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law."
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“They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots," he said.
McKellop claims that Biden's speech ensured that people will think "Trump and the MAGA Republicans are a clear and present danger to our democracy."
According to prosecutors, McKellop allegedly picked up a flagpole and attempted to stab a police captain in the face.
The former 3rd Special Forces Group soldier has been charged with 10 counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon, one count of civil disorder, one count of entering and remaining on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, one count of disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and one count of engaging in physical violence within the Capitol ground, and one count of engaging in physical violence on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
