NEW YORK — An impassioned supporter of former president Donald Trump, on trial for allegedly advocating the “slaughter” of influential Democrats after the U.S. Capitol riot, also espoused Nazi ideology and suggested to his father that Trump should override the election results and declare the United States a dictatorship as Adolf Hitler did in Germany generations ago, according to evidence presented by federal authorities in a Brooklyn courtroom Thursday.
Brendan Hunt, that evidence suggests, was fixated on extremist ideas and conspiracy theories — including that Democrats falsely portrayed covid-19 as a deadly epidemic to gain political advantage over Trump — when on Jan. 8 he posted a video titled “KILL YOUR SENATORS: Slaughter them all.”
Hunt’s trial is believed to be the first related to the insurrection since the Justice Department opened its sweeping investigation into the attack and the domestic-extremist threats suspected of fueling the bid by hundreds of Trump supporters to prevent Congress from counting the electoral college votes affirming his defeat. It is seen as a test of how far free speech can go before it violates constitutional protections. Continue reading.