“Besides being ordered by the President to go to the Capitol, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Thompson told the jury. “I was caught up in the moment.”
During his testimony, Thompson said he had been laid off from his job as an exterminator at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. He said he was “isolated” and “stuck at home,” and eventually “fell down the rabbit hole” into online conspiracy theories
When Joe Biden took the lead in the 2020 presidential election, Thompson testified, he “didn’t think it was possible” and believed Trump when the then-President claimed the election had been stolen. Over the subsequent weeks, Thompson’s embrace of conspiracy theories grew stronger, he told the jury, and he decided to attend the January 6 rally after Trump tweeted about it.
Thompson said he had listened to every speaker during the “Stop the Steal” rally that served as a prelude to the riot and that the speakers had relitigated allegations of fraud.
Thompson testified that after a year without work, he had felt good when Trump told the crowd they were “stronger” and “smarter” than anybody. He then went to the Capitol, Thompson said, because he “felt like I had to do something to gain his respect, his approval.”
Justice Department lawyers sought to undercut Thompson’s argument by portraying the 38-year-old defendant as an adult who can make his own decisions.
Prosecutor William Dreher asked Thompson whether “on the morning of January 6, 2021, you got yourself dressed, all by yourself” and if “no one told you what to wear?”
“Yes,” Thompson responded. He also confirmed he had gotten to court by himself on Wednesday morning.
Dreher also argued that Trump wasn’t “standing right there next to” Thompson when he entered the Capitol, nor did the then-President say during his speech that day that “it is now legal to steal from the United States Capitol building.”
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