- A Capitol rioter who was known to sport a Hitler mustache to work heads to trial later this month.
- But jurors won't hear any details about Timothy Hale-Cusanelli's Nazi fascination, a judge ruled.
- The judge said evidence of Hale-Cusanelli's racist past could unfairly sway the jury, according to WUSA.
A DC jury this month will be spared the most audacious details of a Capitol rioter's anti-Semitic and racist beliefs after a federal judge said its inclusion could convince jurors to unfairly convict him.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli faces multiple felony charges for his role in the January 6 Capitol attack, including civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. His trial is set to begin May 23.
The New Jersey man made headlines following the insurrection after his longtime fascination with Adolph Hitler and Nazi ideology was made public. More than 30 coworkers told federal investigators that the former Navy contractor was open and honest about his extremist views, and sported a Hitler-style mustache at work.
An Insider investigation in March 2021 found that Hale-Cusanelli liked to impersonate Hitler around his workplace at a Naval weapons station, espousing cruel anti-Semitic remarks that left his colleagues intimidated. Hale-Cusanelli had a deep internet history suggesting long-held white supremacist views and was also known to antagonize his local Jewish community, Insider's investigation found.
"Hitler should have finished the job," one Navy Petty Officer remembered Hale-Cusanelli saying.
But members of the jury won't hear about Hale-Cusanelli's pro-Nazi past, US District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled during a pretrial conference last week. Prosecutors will be barred from entering any of Hale-Cusanelli's racist history as evidence because doing so would be "unduly prejudicial," the judge said, according to WUSA, which was first to report on the Friday ruling.
McFadden did rule in favor of allowing evidence that Hale-Cusanelli desired a civil war and expressed his wish to "purge Congress." Jurors will also hear a recording in which Hale-Cusanelli reportedly bragged about encouraging the crowd of pro-Trump supporters to move forward during the January 6 riot and suggested that the mob could have taken the entire building if they'd had more men, according to WUSA.
The judge on Friday denied a motion from Hale-Cusanelli to dismiss some of the charges against him.
An attorney for Hale-Cusanelli previously asked the judge to let him question possible jurors about their beliefs surrounding Hitler and the Nazis — a now-moot line of questioning. The lawyer, Jonathan Crisp, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Insider's investigation into Hale-Cusanelli last year also revealed that he held a secret-level security clearance at the Naval Weapons Station Earle where he worked and was honored several times for his service in the Army Reserves. Hale-Cusanelli also has a long history of former arrests, Insider found.
At least 828 people have been charged in the deadly January 6 attack thus far, and nearly 280 have pleaded guilty.