Following January 6, we've been reading stories about people imprisoned for months in solitary confinement and meekly accepting grotesque plea bargains just to get out of the government's toils.  Thomas Edward Caldwell and his attorney, however, are made of sterner stuff.  It's to be hoped that their fight against the federal government will open a new chapter in fighting back against the calumnies and prosecutions emanating from a hyper-partisan "Justice" Department.

Briefly, on January 6, a combination of Trump-supporters, provocateurs, and possible federal actors entered the United States Capitol, as so many leftists had before them.  Footage indicates that many walked through open doors with Capitol Police officers welcoming them.  They wandered through the Capitol, and a couple of people stole things.  A Capitol officer murdered an unarmed woman.

The entire leftist establishment announced that what happened was worse than the Civil War (650,000 dead), Pearl Harbor (2,335 dead), and 9/11 (2,996 dead) put together.  Since then, the feds have pursued people in a way reminiscent of Inspector Javert pursuing Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, with those arrested for nonviolent crimes placed in solitary confinement for months.  This is despite the fact that most of the charges boil down to trespassing and "parading."

This treatment must be understood against the backdrop of 2020, which saw rioters burn down cities; loot to the tune of billions of dollars; brutally assault people; and kill more than twenty, including police officers.  All this violence and destruction receive celebratory applause from the same Democrat crew now hyperventilating about January 6.  In addition, throughout the year, Democrat-run cities have explicitly or effectively done away with bail and simply allowed known, highly violent criminals to roam the streets, where they've committed terrible crimes.

The handful of January 6 arrestees who have finally had their cases brought up have meekly yielded to stringent plea bargains.  In April, Jon Schaffer, who confessed to being a member of the Oath Keepers (and I have to say I don't believe any of these confessions at this point), pleaded guilty in exchange for squealing and then entering the government's witness protection program.  Bye-bye, old life; hello, new life, knowing that you abandoned your principles.

Then, in June, Anna Morgan-Lloyd, a grandmother who trespassed and "paraded," bypassed prison time in exchange for a struggle session confession after reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Just Mercy, and Schindler's List.  The judge was then satisfied that her deprogramming and re-education were complete.  Morgan-Lloyd, who I hope clings in her heart to the concept of liberty, will see her grandchildren again.

Thomas Edward Caldwell is charting a different path with his attorney, David W. Fischer.  If they are successful, the DOJ will find itself on the receiving end of a different attitude from other arrestees who trespassed or "paraded":

Attorney David W. Fischer filed a motion to move the trial to the Western District of Virginia where there are fewer people who "despise many things that traditional America stands for" and who have less "petulant intolerance for those with differing views." He notes that only 5% of Washington, D.C., residents voted for Trump and they hold him in such contempt that they believed the fake news that he was Russian spy.

Prosecutors have delivered four versions of their claims in four superseding indictments against Caldwell, each less histrionic and myth-making than the one before.

Caldwell is a 20-year U.S. Navy veteran who was apparently outside of the Capitol Building on January 6. He is charged with four felony counts: conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted area, and tampering with documents or proceedings.

Here is what he is not, according to his attorney. Caldwell is not a "white supremacist," nor a "white nationalist." He is not a would-be murderer or a member of a militia group. He did not suggest "gassing" and "executing" members of Congress. He did not lead Oath Keepers, since, presumably, one would have to be an Oath Keeper to lead Oath Keepers. Fischer says his client is not a member.

[snip]

The defense motion claims that prosecutors "knowingly disseminated false and incendiary claims" that Caldwell and others planned to sack the Capitol and "execute" people when they had no evidence for it — not even after conducting a "cyber colonoscopy" on cell phones and computers. There was no "plan," Caldwell's attorney claims. That allegation was based on "a rumor started by government bureaucrats attempting to cover up their incompetent leadership."

You can read the whole motion here, and I recommend that you do so, because it systematically dismantles media hysteria and government lies.  If I'm ever in the feds' crosshairs, I want David W. Fischer on my side.  By the way, I don't blame the other defendants or their lawyers.  When you don't have a frenzy of taxpayer-funded government lawyers or a deep pocket (which none of the January 6 defendants has), your choices in lawyers are limited.  Caldwell was either very smart or very lucky when he found Fischer.

Image: Troops at the Capitol.  Public domain.

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