The Redemption of Timothy Hale: The Military Vet and J6er the Regime Tried to Destroy...

Before January 6, Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli had what many would call a wonderful life. A career man. A respected Army reservist. A successful contractor who served the Department of Defense for over a decade. The kind of person this country used to value. But in a flash, just like that, everything was gone.

What happened to Tim is not just a personal tragedy. It’s a warning, a cautionary tale of what happens when political rage meets unchecked power. Tim wasn’t a violent offender. He didn’t assault anyone, destroy property, or carry a weapon. His so-called crime was walking into the Capitol building on January 6th, during a chaotic moment in American history, an event attended by tens of thousands of Americans. But it was a moment Tim paid dearly for. Three years in prison, one year of it in solitary confinement. All over a felony charge that, according to the Supreme Court, should never have applied to him in the first place.

That charge? 18 USC § 1512, an obscure statute originally designed to punish the destruction of evidence in white-collar crimes. How does this have anything to do with Tim Hale? Nobody knows. It was resurrected by the Biden DOJ and twisted into a weapon to target J6 protesters. People like Tim. And that’s the surest sign that lawfare is in play—when the regime digs up some random old statute, warps its meaning, and uses it like a political bludgeon against American citizens.

Like every other J6 defendant, Tim got the full Round 1 media treatment, branded an insurrectionist, a domestic terrorist, and a threat to democracy. It was the same script they ran on everyone: paint Trump supporters as violent extremists and flood the headlines with guilt by association. But Round 2 against Tim was far more calculated. It came later, when President Trump nominated Ed Martin for a top prosecutor role in DC, something the media and political elites wanted to end at all costs. Ed had stood up for Tim publicly. And that was the opening the media needed.

They dug into Tim’s past and unearthed an old satirical YouTube video where he dressed as Hitler to mock COVID lockdowns. Juvenile? Probably. Bad taste? Sure. But as with most things the media hypes, the clip was taken out of context. Tim wasn’t saluting the Third Reich; he was mocking his own governor for his harsh COVID lockdowns. Still, NBC and the rest of the regime press ignored the real meaning behind the clip and ran wild, branding Tim a “Nazi sympathizer” and using it to smear Ed Martin by proxy. The message was clear: stand up for a J6 defendant, and we’ll burn you both down. The media conveniently left out the part where Tim also parodied Osama Bin Laden—but somehow, that didn’t make him an Islamic terrorist.

But here’s the truth: Tim was raised in a mixed-race family. He ran a labor union. He was close friends with his black, BLM-supporting roommate until that friend, under pressure, turned into a federal informant. The feds weren’t interested in context. They were interested in optics. And a man who had spent 12 years serving his country was now being publicly crucified.

In his own words, Tim was a joker. A troll. A guy who pushed buttons and reveled in the absurd and sometimes macabre. But underneath the dark humor and satirical edge was someone who believed in duty and in America. He grew up in a broken system and spent most of his life feeling like his voice didn’t matter. That changed in 2016, when Donald Trump won. For the first time, Tim felt like someone outside the machine had beaten the machine and that maybe, just maybe, his vote had counted. That’s what eventually brought him to DC on January 6… not to overthrow the government, but to stand with others who felt silenced, censored, and betrayed.

Instead, Tim, like so many others, walked into an FBI honeypot. He didn’t attack anyone. He didn’t break anything. He didn’t steal, vandalize, or plan anything. He simply entered the Capitol building during the chaos, said his piece, and left. But that was enough. He was denied bail, denied basic medical care, denied access to his lawyer, denied a change of venue, and denied due process at every turn. He was tossed into solitary for a year and made an example of. And by the time the Supreme Court finally ruled that the 1512 charge didn’t apply to January 6 protesters, the damage was already done. He had served his full sentence. He lost his job, his uniform, his freedom, and, worst of all, his reputation.

Tim isn’t asking for pity. He’s not asking to be worshipped. He wants the truth to come out, not just for himself, but for all those still being politically persecuted under Biden’s DOJ. His story may be extreme, but it’s not unique. The list of Americans caught in this lawfare dragnet is long and growing. And while the media turns a blind eye to the arsonists, looters, and rioters tearing apart cities like LA, Atlanta, and other cities, they label men like Tim, who walked through the wrong door at the wrong time, as domestic terrorists.

Here’s Tim in his own words in a post from September 2024, before President Trump was re-elected and he received a pardon:

I ask that you share this for the sake of all those still enduring political persecution as a result of January 6. This video shows not just my release from federal prison, after 3 years of being wrongfully incarcerated by the Biden-Harris regime and being misrepresented by propagandist journalists, but also the side of my life the world never saw before I was condemned. My name is Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli (aka Louis of Monmouth) and I’d like to tell you about my political persecution story.

I grew up like many American millennials as a product of my time. I reveled in dark humor and absurdism, and in fact spent over 14 years crafting satire, engaging in method acting, aspiring to a career in comedy, and I was always the joker in my circle of friends growing up. But life wasn’t all fun and games. I had sincerely held beliefs about duty and society.

There was a kernel of structure within the chaos of my youth. That was the United States military, which I joined after highschool, while studying history and the social sciences. I’ve worked many jobs but I’d spent most of my adulthood serving the Department of Defense in one form or another. For 12 years, as an Army administrator or a Navy contractor, I pledged my loyalty to the United States of America.

Due to a rough upbringing, I often describe myself as a recovering nihilist. Like most my age, I also drifted through life resenting a system that was at best broken and at worst corrupt. I never believed I had a true say in the fate of my nation. That was until President Donald J. Trump offered a true alternative to the political establishment. In 2016, for the first time in my life, I could say my vote mattered. Trump won. And since then I’d watched year after year as those in power have tried to destroy him.

Before all the weaponized political prosecutions brought against him by the Biden-Harris regime, and before they attempted to shoot him in the head, they rigged the 2020 election. Why argue about it when we all know it’s true? I went to DC on January 6 to hear a speech, hoping for the best possible outcome. I eventually made my way to the Capitol for what I thought was going to be a peaceful protest. I walked into a honeypot set up by the feds, was turned in by a confidant, and was framed as a morally deformed sociopath by the feds and the press.

I was wrongly called a white supremacist, when I was from a mixed-race family. I was wrongly called a far-right extremist, when I ran a labor union. I was wrongly called a Nazi-sympathizer, when I was a shock jock. I was wrongly called a terrorist, when I worked for the United States government. And despite the fact that I never assaulted an officer, never damaged property, never stole anything from the Capitol, and never pre-planned anything for January 6 I was:

-hunted down, denied bail and indicted
-kept in solitary confinement for a year devoid of nutrition and sunlight
-denied medical care, basic hygiene, religious services and family visitation
-denied due process, lawyer visits and access to evidence
-denied a fair and speedy trial, a jury of my peers or a change of venue
-housed with Antifa and federal informants threatening to kill me and sabotage my criminal case
-publicly smeared as a far-right extremist, insurrectionist and domestic terrorist

Wondering how they got away with all this over trespassing or picketing? After 16 months of rotting behind bars I was finally convicted of 18 USC 1512, an Enron-era felony statute related to destruction of documents (which I hadn’t done), not walking into the Capitol to protest (which I had done). No motion or argument would make the Honorable Court see the nonsensical application of the law in my case.

I was sentenced to 4 years in prison, over twice my federal sentencing guidelines. I endured all this for 3 years, and I would’ve spent more time behind bars had it not been for President Trump’s First Step Act. But my battle didn’t end with prison. I filed an appeal which still hasn’t been answered years after my conviction in early 2022. But there was a chance for relief…

This year SCOTUS ruled that 18 USC 1512 didn’t apply to January 6 defendants. I spent 3 years behind bars for at best misdemeanor conduct. My life was destroyed for a felony that for all intents and purposes doesn’t exist. I lost my home, my career, my uniform, my freedom, and worst – I was made a patsy by those who control the levers of power and was used as a weapon to hurt President Trump.

SCOTUS’ decision was a victory, yes? No. I and everyone wrongfully convicted of this statute should be totally exonerated. And there is confirmation that some defendants are having their 1512 convictions vacated and ongoing prosecutions for 1512 are being dropped. This is not universal, however. This will not apply… to me.

I was recently informed of a deal being offered to me by the prosecutors at the DOJ. In exchange for dropping my appeal that’s been pending for years, the DOJ would agree to drop my conviction for 1512. I turned this offer down. Why? Because the higher ups in the Department of Justice plan to recharge me for 1512 under a different trial theory. The DOJ refuses to provide a guarantee that I won’t be re-prosecuted all over again. I knew this was coming.

They’ve failed to return my property in over 3 years because there’s an “open investigation” long after I’ve already been convicted and served my sentence. They’ve refused to commit to dropping my supervised release conditions, so I can travel freely, after having already served a sentence for a felony I never should’ve been charged with. They’ve not made an effort to lift a fraudulent lien they’ve put against me despite having made consistent restitution payments every month.

And this goes without saying, but I’ve absolutely not been apologized to for having been framed, for having had my public and private lives torn apart for a media narrative, and for having lost years of my life due to malicious prosecution over a fake felony charge. If I took the DOJ’s deal, they’d drop my 1512 conviction based on the SCOTUS ruling, then prosecute me for 1512 using a different trial theory, and take me back to trial even knowing I can’t legally serve more time in prison even if convicted of 1512 again.

By choosing not to take this deal I am preserving my appeal, which will be pending for another half a year, and my 1512 will likely be dropped by the appellate court. If not, I could still be prosecuted again if the next administration doesn’t drop the charges. Knowing I’ll be prosecuted whether I take the deal or not, I’m refusing to bend the knee and I’m making the feds work for the last pound of flesh I have to give.

I will be the first January 6 defendant wrongfully convicted of 18 USC 1512 to be prosecuted for 1512 all over again. It has all come down to this. The ultimate gambit. For the redress of a generation. I take up the gauntlet thrown down by the cowardly bastards in charge of the Department of Justice. I defy this corrupt administration, and I maintain my resolve. Not one step back. No deal, burn in Hell. I’m in this to win. The feds and their media sycophants are going to learn the hard way that they can’t smear me into submission.

My name is Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli…
Comedian. Polymath. Soldier. Political Prisoner DC-DOC 376441 / BOP 25995-509

I ask that you share this for the sake of all those still enduring political persecution as a result of January 6. This video shows not just my release from federal prison, after 3 years of being wrongfully incarcerated by the Biden-Harris regime and being misrepresented by… pic.twitter.com/5GhiakQy0v

— Tim Hale – Criminally Funny J6er (@LouisofMonmouth) September 12, 2024

Yes, the Supreme Court tossed out his sham conviction, and President Trump has even issued pardons for most J6 participants. But sadly, none of that undoes the damage done to Tim, including his reputation, his freedom, and his life. Revolver spoke with Tim about this ongoing injustice. Here’s what he had to say.

“No, I unfortunately have not been made whole with the military. I do not have benefits to my knowledge, I have not been reinstated, my rank has not been restored (I was reduced in rank from a sergeant to an E1 private to my knowledge), and my discharge has not been changed to an honorable discharge from an other than honorable. I have not been compensated for losing 4 years of service pay either. The only thing I’ve received has been a letter from the Navy saying I’m no longer banned from the base I contracted for.”

This needs to change. Tim Hale isn’t a criminal. He’s not a social pariah. He’s an American citizen with the right to dark humor and the freedom to push satirical boundaries as far as he wants.

Tim Hale’s story is not simple. He’s not polished. He’s raw, unfiltered, and controversial. But he’s also a veteran, a working-class American, and a victim of the most aggressive political prosecution machine this country has ever seen. He stood up. He’s still standing. And whether you agree with everything he’s done or said, that alone deserves a second look.

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