WASHINGTON (AP) – An army reservist accused of participating in the attack on the Capitol was known as a Nazi sympathizer who wore a Hitler mustache, colleagues told federal investigators.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 30, was working as a security contractor on a naval base when he allegedly breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, authorities said.
In court papers filed Friday, federal prosecutors in Washington said his colleagues at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck, New Jersey, told investigators he had white supremacy.
The filing included photos from Hale-Cusanelli’s cell phone of him with a Hitler mustache, along with pro-Nazi cartoons.
A Navy sailor said Hale-Cusanelli had told him “that he would kill all the Jews and eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and that he wouldn’t have to season them because the salt from their tears would make them flavorful enough. . “
Other colleagues recalled Hale-Cusanelli making derogatory comments about women, black people, and other minorities.
Prosecutors argued in the charges that Hale-Cusanelli is a danger to the public and should remain in prison while awaiting trial.
Jonathan Zucker, Hale-Cusanelli’s attorney, wrote in an application that there was no evidence that his client belongs to a white supremacist organization.
Authorities said Hale-Cusanelli made videos of himself yelling at Capitol Police agents, climbed a scaffold to enter the building through doors kicked open by rioters, and chanted “Stop the stealing!” Some of those videos have been posted on social media.
Hale-Cusanelli has since been discharged from the army reserve and banned from the naval base, according to the filing.