COLTS NECK, NJ – A U.S. Army reservist, Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli, 32, of Colts Neck, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.
Hale was sentenced after being convicted by a federal grand jury on May 27 of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and four misdemeanor charges. Those charges included entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.
Hale was the Jersey Shore’s most high-profile U.S. Capitol rioters after photos of him wearing an Adolf Hitler-style toothbrush mustache. However, his fellow soldiers gave testimony that gave the community room to be concerned about his alleged neo-nazi beliefs.
The court also found Hale-Cusanelli obstructed justice by making false and misleading statements under oath during his trial, claiming he did not know the U.S. Capitol building. Federal prosecutors provided testimony to the contrary.
According to the Department of Justice, “Hale-Cusanelli drove to Washington on the morning of January 6, 2021. He joined a mob of rioters that illegally breached a police line attempting to secure the Capitol grounds. He commanded others in the mob to “advance” on the Capitol, a command he continued once inside. Hale-Cusanelli was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol Building, moving inside shortly after the breach that took place at 2:12 p.m. at the Senate Wing Door.”
During the trial, it was found that he made harassing and derogatory statements toward Capitol Police officers, saying that a “revolution” was coming.
“He remained in the building for approximately 40 minutes. Days after the incident, Hale-Cusanelli told a friend that being in the Capitol was “exhilarating,” he was hoping for a “civil war,” and that the “tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” the Department of Justice said during the trial.
Hale-Cusanelli was enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and worked as a contractor at Naval Weapons Station Earle, where he had a “secret” security clearance and has since been barred from the facility.