I think our democracy is in trouble because we have people like our former president who don't care about democracy but about power.
He reserved his strongest comments for Thompson, who he described as weak-minded and part of a crowd of Trump supporters who couldn't separate his claims. Thompson was ordered to be held until his sentencing.
The reality is that he has to do time now or later.
Thompson was considered a flight risk because he tried to flee the police after they questioned him about the coat tree theft. Thompson took the stand to try to explain his actions, but he wasn't candid in his testimony.
The case presented a dilemma for prosecutors as the Justice Department continues to investigate figures in Trump's circle for their roles in motivating and stoking the conditions that led to the mob attack on the Capitol. A bunch of defendants have argued in court that they took their cue from Trump when he called for a fight against the results of the 2020 election. Thompson made that claim the center of his defense.
William Dreher called Thompson's argument a sideshow that was meant to whip up the jury's anger at Trump.
Defense counsel wants you to focus on what President Trump said on the morning of January 6. Dreher said that he wants you to forget what his client did.
He wants you to think that you have to choose between Mr. Thompson and President Trump. You don't have to choose, you can only find out if one of them is worse than the other.
The ability of Trump to influence his supporters to march on the Capitol has been a focus of the select committee. It has pointed to claims from defendants like Thompson, as well as Trump's lengthy silence during the riot, as evidence that the former president bears singular, perhaps criminal, responsibility for the violence that broke out that day.
Dreher urged jurors to ignore the narrative.
He said that it was not up to you to decide if anyone else should be prosecuted. The fact that someone else is guilty is not a defense of a criminal charge. The question of the guilt of others should not be asked.
Thompson was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, theft of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and disorderly conduct in the Capitol. The jury deliberated for three hours.
Thompson had been out of work for nearly a year before the fire and was isolated during the Pandemic.
Thompson entered the Capitol after Trump's speech, joined a mob in ransacking the Senate parliamentarian's office, and stole a coat rack and bottle of liquor. He stood by as rioters attacked police in a Capitol tunnel and then ran away when they asked about the coat rack.
The jury should consider the impact that Trump's words had over time.
Shamansky described Thompson as an evil and sinister man who would stop at nothing to get his way on January 6.
Shamansky told the jury to do the right thing.
There was broad agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys about the conduct of the accused. Thompson acknowledged that he was wrong in his actions, but argued that he was in Trump's thrall when he did them.
Thompson's wife testified that she witnessed her husband become more radicalized when he became unemployed in March 2020.
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