A CNN talking head snapped at a lawyer for several Jan. 6th rioters after the lawyer repeatedly suggested the riot was a peaceful event.
The discussion Thursday between CNN’s Abby Phillip and attorney John Pierce began with Phillip telling the audience about Pierce’s latest client.
“[A] judge today ruling that a convicted rioter cannot attend a festival this weekend in Missouri to honor those who stormed the Capitol. Kenneth Thomas was convicted last month of seven crimes, including assaulting an officer,” she said.
After introducing Pierce, she then asked him, “Why would a judge give [Thomas] permission to attend a festival that is essentially celebrating the thing he was convicted for?”
In response, the attorney immediately pushed back.
Watch the back-and-forth exchange below:
“Well, I would take issue with the idea that this is celebrating the things that he was convicted for. I would actually take some issue with the language in some of your lead-up about folks storming the Capitol,” Pierce said.
“January 6th was a very complex event. There were a lot of people who engaged in various kinds of conduct. Mr. Kenneth Joseph Thomas was found not guilty of engaging in violence on the Capitol grounds,” he added.
Phillip responded with a quick fact-check, telling Pierce that his client “was found guilty of assaulting a police officer.”
Pierce in turn replied by clarifying that — despite Thomas’ conviction — his client had merely impeded or obstructed a police officer, not assaulted one.
Ignoring what he’d just said, Phillip responded by returning to her original question. This time Pierce replied by claiming the festival isn’t meant to celebrate violence.
“These folks are not going to celebrate any kind of armed insurrection. Nobody has been charged with insurrection. They are not going there to celebrate violence. These people are going there to pray. They are going there to have a sense of community. These people have been through an incredible ordeal,” he said.
“They are up against the most powerful forces on the planet with unlimited resources. They are trying to raise money so that they can pay very limited legal fees that they are able to pay. So, they have some funds for commissary in prison when they are detained. They are not going there to celebrate any kind of violence,” he added.
Below is an advertisement promoting the festival:
— Jan6_Detainees (@Jan6_Detainees) June 17, 2023
Phillip then asked Pierce whether Thomas is “remorseful about his actions on January 6th?”
“I think there are certain things that he wish had happened differently. But, you know, the trial laid out very clearly that he was there to have his voice be heard. He was there to protect other people,” Pierce replied.
“There is very clear evidence that there was excessive force by police officers and he was trying to assist an elderly person who was being beaten by batons when he was on the ground,” he added.
It’s at this point that Phillip snapped.
“Look, I have to stop you there, because, honestly, we watched what happened on Jan. 6th, okay? And you can make sort of legalistic arguments about what exactly your client was convicted of and what he was not. There is no question that there was violence at the Capitol, that officers were assaulted on that day. There is no question about that,” she said.
“There is also no question that your client participated in pushing back against law enforcement officers who were doing their jobs, which was protecting the Capitol that day. So, I just — we have to put that on the table,” she added.
Lastly, she noted that Thomas hasn’t been sentenced yet and wondered why he’d risk upsetting the judge by requesting to attend a veritable pro-Jan. 6th festival.
Pierce replied by doubling down on his assertion that the Jan. 6th riot wasn’t an inherently violent event.
“Kenneth Joseph Thomas, like many Jan. 6th defendants, feel very, very strongly that, to a large extent, they went to Washington, D.C. that day to have their voices heard. Look, the narrative that, with all due respect to your network, sometimes has been pushed that this was a violent event, that there was violence on both sides …,” he replied before being shut down by Phillip.
“No, no! It was a violent event. Look, it was a violent event. Police officers were there doing their job,” she snapped.
“Abby, some of the police officers were not doing their jobs. Some of the police officers were going way beyond doing their jobs including unjustified lethal force, okay? So, January 6th is not as simple …,” Pierce tried responding, only to be cut off again.
“John, a mob was attacking the Capitol. They were trying to break into the chamber. Some of them were armed. Many of them assaulted police officers to the point of permanent, long-term injury,” Phillip replied.
Offered the chance to close the discussion, Phillip returned to his very controversial original thesis.
“The vast majority — I know this stuff better than you, with all due respect, way better. — the vast majority of individuals who are on the Capitol grounds were there and they were peaceful,” he said.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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