Today, My J6 “Cop Killer” Trial
Today, after four years of being called a cop killer by the attorney for Erin Smith, David Webber, I had my “day in court.” For those four years, I had looked forward to finally giving my side of the story—along with the five streams of video that exonerated me of all charges. In 2023, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Kiok had shown these five streams of video at my sentencing for entering the Capitol. (This, after I had been let in at around 2 o’clock by police at the Central East Front Entrance when they opened the Columbus Doors, subsequent to my saving an elderly couple from being crushed by the crowd. I had thought police were trying to help us).
In that sentencing—which spanned two days—before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb, Mr. Kiok assured the judge three times, in no uncertain terms, that I had not struck Officer Smith, and that if I had, he and his team would have prosecuted me for assault.
Additionally, on that day, June 13, 2023, Mr. Kiok asked Judge Cobb to sentence me to six months in jail and five years of probation for “parading and chanting.” I spoke to Judge Cobb at length about who I was and what I had done with my life as a DC resident—and on J6—and she graciously reduced my sentence to two months in prison at Ft. Dix, New Jersey (mid-July to mid-September 2023), and threw out any probation.
(Meanwhile, for some reason, in their coverage of this sentencing, The Washington Post and HuffPost, among others, point-blank lied and said Kiok asked for two months and no probation—and that Judge Cobb granted this.)
Today, June 23, my attorney Hughie Hunt put on a minimalist defense. His idea was: less is more. Show the video Kiok evaluated, Ofc. Smith’s own bodycam video. We believed we could trust jurors to see what Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Kiok saw.
But that is not what happened. This jury of eight Washingtonians say unanimously that they saw something completely different than what the prosecutor saw: they saw assault and battery. Worth $60,000 for assault, $60,000 for loss of consortium, and $320,000 for punitive damages, $440,000 in damages total.
I had also hoped in the past few days to finally present numerous factors that show myself as a good person, and how I had also gone to see six BLM protests in downtown DC, Lafayette Park and Lincoln Park in 2020. I did this because I am a history junkie. I’ve walked to many protests since 1984 when I moved four blocks from the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Mr. Webber had a five-year head start calling me a cop killer, and I hoped to tell the jury:
- How I offered seven years of pro bono Tuesday chiropractic services to the women of N Street Village Shelter, after learning of the extraordinary benefits of chiropractic for people suffering from substance abuse, as published in Molecular Psychiatry. (I had reached out to all the other chiropractors in the city asking them to help—none did.) In 2010, I was honored with N Street’s “Man of the Year.”
- How I offered 27 years of free Saturday morning T’ai Chi on the U.S. Capitol grounds and in Lincoln Park.
- How I treated elderly men and women on Medicaid—despite negligible chiropractic reimbursement and red tape—for just a $5 fee, so that they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.
- How I played in an original music band, Land of Malls, for ten years—an effort I hoped added to the culture and entertainment of the city.
- How, just minutes after the “cop killer” label was publicized, I received a call from Sergeant Barbieri, who said he was with a special unit assigned to protect the President and top congressional leaders in emergencies. He said he had been directed to call me and advise me to contact him if I ever saw extreme behavior that threatened me as a result of Mr. Webber’s accusations—he would come get me out of danger. “Use your instincts,” he said. “If it looks like ordinary trouble, call 911. If it looks like you are in real danger—call me immediately.”
Why would I be extend this protection if what Mr. Webber has said for four years was true?
“Who told you to call me?” I asked.
“I’m not at liberty to say. Just keep an eye out.” Or words to that effect.
Given these facts alone, just for openers—does my verdict of $440,000 sound fair to you?
My eight jurors came back with a unanimous decision Friday on the Kiok videos in about an hour and a half. I had felt completely certain they would see the obvious, and I could start the process of getting my life and reputation back.
I also mentioned these facts today and tonight in two conversations with Michael Kunzelman, reporter for AP, about my concern and disappointment in the jury’s decision, facts he was at least partly aware of to my knowledge because he has followed my case and said in a conversation this evening that he remembered Kiok’s statement. Other reporters know as well.
Yet he printed none of these extenuating circumstances. Oddly.
Where are we, exactly, if key facts like these make no difference to a judge, in a court of law, before a jury—and before the media, and a significant portion of society?
What would you think, do or say if you were in my shoes?
I will follow this thread from my trial and verdict today as a blog on politics and current events apart from The Genius Machine and the Theory of Everything. Thank you for following. Please spread the word and even contribute ideas or observations to grow a dialogue for communication.
