Brandon Fellows, arrested ten days after the 2021 January 6th capitol riots and later charged with felony obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, has recently compared his trial to that of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
In his opening statement, Fellows defended his actions on the day of the riots, expressing unapologetic enjoyment of the fear experienced by the senators and congressmen present. This startling admission was not his only point of contention however, as he would go on to draw parallels between his trial and the accusations of sexual assault against Justice Kavanaugh.
Aggressively defended by Kavanaugh, these accusations laid by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford have been highlighted by Fellows as a point of commonality between their respective experiences. This head-turning assertion was reported by NBC News in an itemized analysis of Fellows’ opening statement.
Fellows argues that the jurors should be sympathetic towards the emotional response that Kavanaugh exhibited, citing the magnitude of the allegations against him during his 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony. He further suggested that he would persist in using this example throughout his trial proceedings in order to foster empathy amongst the jury.
According to Fellows, the impact of allegations on an accused person’s life – his career, reputation, and safety of his family – should be considered, in spite of whether the jury agrees with their actions or not. His comparison, likening his experience to Kavanaugh’s, seems to insinuate the existence these factors in his own situation alongside his stipulation of Ford’s potential financial motivations as a factor to be considered.
This atypical defense strategy, highlighting similarities with a member of an institution undergoing declining public approval, has raised eyebrows and questions about the effectiveness of this approach.
More information can be found at Above the Law.