Judge blasts MAGA rioter's lawyer for saying Washington DC residents 'despise' the values of 'traditional America'

Judge Amit P. Mehta presided over the Jan. 6 case of Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell Wednesday in which lawyer David Fischer attempted to make the case that his client's behavior doesn't fall under one of the charges of stopping a government proceeding.

Fischer compared Jan. 6 to the Code Pink protesters who began yelling during Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing. Fischer also incorrectly claimed that there were no documents involved in the certification of the president, as noted legal analyst Marcy Wheeler.


Another viewer live-tweeting the trial noted that Fischer also asked for a change of venue, claiming that "there is so much prejudice" in Washington D.C. that "it's off the charts." Judge Mehta asked how he knew it, and Fischer answered merely that it was anti-Trump.

Judge Mehta said that the legal brief filed by Fischer "reads less like a legal brief and more than something on a blog. I expect better from you." Judge Mehta also said that Fischer "cast aspersions" on people who live in Washington, D.C. "Ripped out of blog posts isn't gonna do it."

Fischer then pointed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), referring to his client as a "white supremacist."

"We ought not be judging people as groups," the lawyer said, claiming a jury in D.C. would do the same because residents of the District "despise" the values of "traditional America." It wasn't merely the comments he made to Judge Mehta. Fischer also made the comments in his June written filing. Washington, D.C. is a majority Black city.




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