The lawyer for a Columbus person who faces misdemeanor prices for thieving a coat rack for the duration of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has asked a federal decide to make it possible for him to subpoena former President Donald J. Trump as a witness at his client’s trial.
Columbus legal professional Sam Shamansky reported he options on making use of a “public authority defense” for his client, 37-yr-previous Dustin Byron Thompson, of the Iuka Ravine community in the city’s University District.
“Trump and his co-conspirators concocted this absurd lie that our election was stolen and democracy was at stake,” Shamansky instructed The Dispatch.
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Trump supporters were being led to believe that that “the only way to have interaction was to fight like hell to disrupt the certification proceedings,” he reported.
With out that message, Shamansky mentioned, his shopper would not have been there.
“The proof was in the pudding. The group did precisely as they were being instructed,” Shamansky claimed.
A spokesperson for Trump did not return a information remaining by The Dispatch.
Sam Shamansky: Customer joined U.S. Capitol riot prompted by Trump’s words
Shamansky very first instructed to The Dispatch shortly right after Thompson was billed in the months right after the insurrection that Trump’s words had spurred his client to sign up for the mob.
U.S. Capitol riot: Trump’s terms encouraged Columbus man to sign up for mob that breached Capitol, attorney says
According to the see of general public authority defense filed in court, Thompson claimed he was “directed to have interaction in the carry out set forth in the indictment by Donald J. Trump and his various conspirators. At the time, Mr. Trump was vested with the complete authority of the Govt Branch as President of the United States of America and was acting less than coloration of that authority.”
Thompson and a co-defendent, Robert Anthony Lyon, who has experienced addresses in Columbus and Reynoldsburg, are each charged with federal misdemeanor counts of knowingly getting into any limited properties or grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Thompson is also charged with theft of authorities residence for taking a picket coat rack from the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol. Both had been unveiled on their have recognizance pending demo following appearing in federal court. Shamansky only signifies Thompson.
In accordance to the prison criticism filed in the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia, U.S. Capitol Police identified Thompson, sporting a Trump 2020 wintertime hat and a bulletproof vest, and Lyon, keeping a Trump 2020 flag, sitting on the sidewalk around a avenue corner.
They told law enforcement they were waiting around for an Uber to get them back again to their Maryland lodge. Police directed them to a site where they could be picked up outside of the safe zone police were being establishing, according to courtroom data.
As Thompson and Lyon stood up to leave, Thompson picked up a picket coat rack that was at the rear of him. The coat rack appeared to have been taken from the within of the Capitol, and a bar code on it later verified it was Senate property, the grievance explained.
Agents told Thompson to put down the coat rack. He complied, but then instantly ran away. Lyon did not attempt to run, cooperated with the agents and gave them consent to look for his bag for stolen property. Inside, they discovered marijuana, two pipes and an open bottle of bourbon that ended up confiscated, an FBI agent wrote in the statement of specifics in the complaint.
The fees carry probable jail conditions of up to one year and fines up to $100,000. A demo is scheduled for April, Shamansky claimed.
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