Verdict is in for the January 6th Defendant

The January 6th protests gave the left a huge amount of ammo for use against the GOP. The reason for the amount of public interest and support for the investigations was because the alleged crimes took place as the Electoral College votes were being certified by the U.S. Congress.

With it, the Democrats established a January 6th House Select Committee (witch hunt) in June, 2021, to investigate what they call an insurrection / domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol.

This has also allowed them to prolong the narrative for as long as possible as they try to keep former President Trump from running again in 2024 and the GOP taking back the Congress in 2022.

Finally for those who were arrested and charged during the prolonged investigative process, they are finally getting their days in court.

On Wednesday a federal judge acquitted a New Mexico man of misdemeanor charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol and engaged in disorderly conduct after he walked into the building during last year’s riot.

AP reports that U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden issued the verdict from the bench after hearing testimony without a jury in the case against Matthew Martin. McFadden, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump, acquitted Martin of all four counts for which he was charged.

Martin, a federal defense contractor, held a security clearance and took personal leave from his job on Jan. 6. He was arrested in April 2021 and faced charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, NBC reports.

Judge McFadden said it was reasonable for Martin to believe that outnumbered police officers allowed him and others to enter the Capitol through the Rotunda doors on Jan. 6, 2021. The judge also said Martin’s actions were “about as minimal and non-serious” as anyone who was at the Capitol that day.

Martin, whose bench trial started Tuesday, testified a police officer waved him into the building after the riot erupted. A prosecutor dismissed that testimony as “nonsense.”

The judge, however, disagreed. He said video shows two police officers standing near the Rotunda doors and allowing people to enter as Martin approached. One of the officers appeared to lean back before Martin placed a hand on the officer’s shoulder as a possible sign of gratitude, the judge said.

McFadden described Martin’s testimony as “largely credible.” The judge said it was not unreasonable for him to believe that officers allowed him to enter the Capitol, even though alarms were blaring and broken glass was strewn about the floor, according to AP.

Martin is the third Capitol riot defendant whose case has been resolved by a trial.

He is the first of the three to be acquitted of all charges that he faced. The first two Capitol riot trials ended with convictions, although McFadden acquitted one of those defendants of a disorderly conduct charge after a bench trial last month.

Let’s hope the others, whom I believe were wrongly charged during this politically driven witch hunt, also receive fair trials.

Let justice be done, based solely on the truth and nothing but the truth.

By: Eric Thompson, editor of Eric Thompson Show