Brandon Fellows (court photo, DOJ/ District Court for the District of Columbia)
Brandon Fellows was arrested 10 days after the 2021 January 6th Capitol riot, and ultimately charged with felony obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting. He’s been held in pretrial detention since mid-2021 for calling his probation officer’s mother and violating a protective order by allegedly harassing an ex-girlfriend.
Fellows’s trial began yesterday, and he’s representing himself, because of course he is. In a winding 19-minute opening statement, Fellows made some interesting revelations. For example, he told the jury, “I truly do like the fact that those senators and congressman were in fear for their lives.”
He went on to compare his arrest and trial to Brett Kavanaugh. In what seems like a head scratcher, Fellows compared his trial to the accusations of sexual assault against the justice leveled by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
You’ll recall in the face of the credible accusations of Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh reacted with incredible vitriol. As reported by NBC News, Fellows used that as some sort of bizarre example in his opening statement:
He said jurors should understand why Kavanaugh was emotional and angry when spoke about the allegations against him during his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he was a nominee for the Supreme Court in 2018. He also indicated that he’ll keep referring to Kavanaugh’s situation during his trial.
“I think it’s important to keep in context what was happening in his life that could have brought those emotions out,” Fellows said of Kavanaugh’s response. Fellows went on to tell jurors that he thinks Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, had potential financial motivations to lie about her accusations.
“Even if you disagree with him, take into consideration what he was going through,” Fellows said as he compared himself to Kavanaugh. “His life was getting threatened, his family was getting threatened, his career was looking terrible. It was looking like maybe it was all done with, and his name was getting tarnished.”
It’s unclear how far Fellows will take the Supreme analogy throughout his trial. But, comparing himself to a maligned member of an institution with sinking approval numbers doesn’t sound like a successful strategy.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].