- Court documents published by the Politico offer an insight into the ties of white supremacy of a Capitol hooligan.
- Hale-Cusanelli worked at a New Jersey naval facility, where he held secret-level security clearance.
- The investigators found that Hale-Cusanelli’s co-workers could remember several incidents of racist behavior.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
A US Army reservist accused of participating in the Capitol rebellion was well known to his co-workers as a “white supremacist,” according to new evidence from federal prosecutors.
Among many other revelations, court documents first published by the Politician also reveal that Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was a Holocaust denier who shaved his beard on a “Hitler’s mustache” and regularly praised the Nazis.
The evidence against Hale-Cusanelli resulted from an extensive investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
NCIS special agents interviewed 44 members of the NWS Earle Security Forces, where Hale-Cusanelli worked and maintained a secret-level security clearance, in an attempt to keep him in prison while he awaits trial after his arrest in 15 of January.
Of the 44 people interviewed, the majority – 34 – agreed with Hale-Cusanelli’s description as “having extremist or radical views on the Jewish people, minorities and women”, according to court documents.
An unidentified Navy noncommissioned officer said the Capitol hooligan had said that “Hitler should have finished the job.”
A Navy sailor said that Hale-Cusanelli once said that “babies born with any deformity or disability must be shot in the forehead”. He also recalled an incident in which he said that, if he were a Nazi, “he would kill all Jews and eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner”.
A supervisor told investigators that she once had to discipline Hale-Cusanelli for wearing a “Hitler’s mustache” to work.
The results of these interviews were published as a rebuttal to a letter of support from the sergeant. John Getz. Hale-Cusanelli’s supervisor wrote a letter to the court urging them to release him on bail, adding that he was “shocked by the way he [Hale-Cusanelli] he was slandered in the press about him being a white supremacist. “
Prosecutors, however, pointed out that Getz’s earlier statements contradicted that claim. He had previously said that Hale-Cusanelli was a “Nazi sympathizer” and a “Holocaust denier”.
The Capitol’s rowdy lawyer argued that his client should not be detained until trial. He told the court that Hale-Cusanelli is not charged with a crime of violence and is not a Nazi sympathizer, according to court documents.
Prosecutors dismissed these accusations, citing photographic evidence of Hale-Cusanelli sporting a Hitler mustache, several racist photos saved on his phone and a now-deleted YouTube channel in which he expressed odious opinions.
Hale-Cusanelli is one of many rebels who are believed to have been a white supremacist. Groups inside and around the Capitol wore insignia associated with extreme right, racist and extremist groups on January 6, Susie Neilson and Morgan McFall-Johnsen from Insider reported earlier.
After the siege of the Capitol, the FBI had to examine DC National Guard troops to ensure that they had no ties to extreme right-wing ideologies. This put the Pentagon under increasing pressure to deal with ties of white supremacy within the US armed forces, said John Haitlwanger of Insider.