Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a U.S. Army reservist and Navy security contractor who was arrested for allegedly violating the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots, was a known white supremacist, federal prosecutors said Friday, as reported. for the first time by Politico.
Because it is important: “Not only is the defendant’s white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer ideology obvious from the evidence, that same ideology fuels the defendant’s enthusiasm for another Civil War,” prosecutors said.
- Hale-Cusanelli allegedly discussed his hatred of Jews, minorities and women while working as a security contractor at Earle Naval Weapons Station in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Context: A new filing from federal prosecutors on Friday included the results of a Naval Criminal Investigation Service investigation into Hale-Cusanelli.
- The investigation included interviews with 44 of Hale-Cusanelli’s colleagues, 34 of whom agreed that he had “extremist or radical views on the Jewish people, minorities and women.”
What they are saying: One of Hale-Cusanelli’s colleagues said the defendant had “shaved off facial hair on a ‘Hitler mustache,'” and prosecutors pulled photos of the mustache from Hale-Cusanelli’s phone.
- A Navy noncommissioned officer told investigators they recalled that Hale-Cusanelli said: “Hitler should have finished the job.”
The panorama: Hale-Cusanelli’s case has received attention from the military due to his reservist status and his employment at a military installation and underscores the challenges the Department of Defense faces in attempting to combat extremist ideologies within the ranks of the military.
- The Pentagon reported this month that domestic extremist groups have attempted to recruit active and former military members into their ranks.
- Several ex-military and police officers participated in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, which the FBI classified as internal terrorism.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month ordered commanders and supervisors to finally hold a one-day “pullout” to discuss extremism within the military.