As the week ends with a half-day in court, following is the recap of what happened.

  • The jury selection process for the trial has been completed and some jurors seem to be supportive or sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is not a desirable factor for the five ProudBoys defendants.
  • There were some issues with Joe Biggs’s lawyers, Dan Hull and Norm Pattis, the latter being almost removed from the case due to a license suspension in Connecticut. We learned that he could stay on the case.
  • Yesterday, Roger Roots presented a photo of Joshua Black who was hit with a rubber bullet.* Some of the jurors seem disturbed and visibly looked away.
  • Carmen Hernandez requested a mistrial but it was denied.
Today, the prosecution brought in their first witness. Inspector Thomas Lloyd of the Capitol Police took the stand and provided an overview of the layout of the Capitol building and the location of the bicycle racks. He testified that the police used less than lethal force. This is demonstrably false as four protestors were killed by police that day (Ashli Babbitt, Roseann Boylan, Kevin Greeson, and Benjamin Phillips). He is the one who made the call to shoot indiscriminately into the crowd, which according to his own testimony, is against the rules.

The cross-examination of Inspector Lloyd will begin next week, on Tuesday. It will be very interesting as there is video evidence contradicting some of his statements.

The defense will be calling on confidential informants, FBI informants who were placed within the Proud Boys during the march and protest. This is significant information that will likely play a major role in the trial. The defense will have a lot to say about the government’s infiltration of American citizens, particularly the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys’ trial will likely reveal a lot about this infiltration.

The defense’s arguments about Inspector Lloyd’s testimony will be crucial. The prosecution is good at spinning facts as they show short, selective clips of video that do not give the whole picture. Unfortunately for the defense, the judge is particular about which videos are allowed in court, one more indication of a definite bias, as the defense may be denied important exculpatory evidence. The jurors have noticed that the Proud Boys have support. They have been triggered by some of the videos that were shown by the prosecution. The defense has the responsibility to ensure that the whole picture is presented and the truth behind the protestors’ reactions is revealed, particularly how they were influenced by the excessive violence displayed by the police. It should also be acknowledged that there were agitators within the crowd who played a role in escalating the situation.

Next week will be very interesting!

* Judge Jackson found Joshua Black NOT GUILTY of 1512 Obstruction. GUILTY on the other 5 counts.