Jan 6th rioter's attorney claims his client 'deserves tenderness' after conviction for punching a Capitol cop
Appearing on CNN on Friday morning, the attorney for a New Jersey gym owner who was sentenced to 41 months in prison for punching a Capitol police officer during the January 6th insurrection said that not only was his client's jail term excessive but he deserved "a little tenderness" for admitting he was wrong to take part in the riot that day.
Attorney Harley Breite clashed with CNN host Brianna Keilar on her characterization of what happened on Jan 6th, and attempted to make the case for his client, Scott Fairlamb, who filmed himself during the assault.
On Wednesday, CNN reported, "Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty in August to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding. He has been in jail since he was arrested in late January and will get credit for the time he has already spent behind bars. Fairlamb was also the first riot defendant to plead guilty to assault."
Speaking with Keilar after the sentencing, Breite explained, "Well, his beliefs prior to the incident, whether you want to categorize them as part of any mass conspiracy or anything like that, that's up to you, these were his own individual beliefs. He doesn't blame his acts on actions on any group or other organization. What he did, he did himself."
"He did believe in things that were not true and he has denounced them," he continued. "He no longer has those beliefs. The present divisiveness in this country requires that all of us, including Scott Fairlamb, critically reflect upon the basic assumptions of what we believe is true, what we believe is justice, and Mr. Fairlamb has now had that opportunity, that time alone in the jail, to critically reflect and think about what it is that comprised his belief system that led him to that action."
"Harley, can you talk a little bit more about that?" Keilar prompted. "How does someone go from believing in things that are not true, what many people would call conspiracy theories, and going to the Capitol, storming the Capitol, you know, punching an officer, and now you say he's at a place where he's denounced that, he doesn't believe that Trump won the election. How do you get from that first point to where he is as you describe it now?"
"Well, I mean, this country has a history of learning from its mistakes and understanding," the attorney replied. "George Washington himself pardoned two people who were found guilty of treason during the Whiskey Rebellion and he asked for moderation and tenderness to the misled who have abandoned their errors. Mr. Fairlamb, having been misled through his own account, through his own fault, but nevertheless misled, has abandoned those errors and he is deserving of tenderness and moderation and forgiveness."
"This is a country that forgives people when they stand up and say I made a mistake," he continued. "America's the land of opportunity, and forgiveness. He stood up, he quickly claimed responsibility for his actions, he pled guilty, he assumed responsibility for what he did, and now he should be afforded just like all these other people who have been convicted of crimes in the past, they should be given consideration for forgiveness and tolerance."
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