MAGA rioter's lawyers say their client 'stood no chance at grasping reality' in plea for leniency

[Ohio Joe]

Lawyers representing MAGA rioter Philip Weisbecker are pleading for leniency for their client on the grounds that he "stood no chance at truly grasping reality" when he stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6th, 2021.

In a court filing flagged by CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, Weisbecker's attorneys placed blame on Trump campaign officials who knew that the election had not been stolen from the twice-impeached former president, but nonetheless remained silent as he continued to spread false claims.

"When these people failed to correct the narrative, it left a huge informational void that was filled with the likes of conspiracy theorists, online extremists and Trump loyalists willing to manipulate public opinion for their own purposes," the attorneys write.

As a result, they continued, Weisbecker "stood no chance at truly grasping the gravity or reality of the situation" and urged the court to take into account "the enormous influence the President, the media, and the lack of accurate and truthful information played in the months leading up to January 6, 2021."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/maga-rioter-s-lawyers-say-their-client-stood-no-chance-at-grasping-reality-in-plea-for-leniency/ar-AAYHGLx?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c358ba3501b64ba99816cf23da17b62f

I'm sorry your honor... I'm just too fucking stupid... Sheesh, none of us should be surprised but...

[CentralMass]

1. I'm breaking out my violin

[AllaN01Bear]

2. well whah

[in2herbs]

3. It sounds like the lawyer should be complaining to FOX news directly or filing

a lawsuit against FOX on behalf of his client. Oh wait, the USSC recently ruled that lawsuits such as this can't be brought.

[LuckyCharms]

4. I'll try that if I ever get arrested.

"Your honor, I'm one dumb fuck".

OK.

Not guilty.

Case dismissed.

[FelineOverlord]

5. More on this jerk

Link to tweet

[Caliman73]

9. You are not a "normie" if you fell for the narrative.

That would make you "radicalized". I am a "normie" I follow the evidence based, shared reality. Certainly, I hold some ideas that are not as mainstream as others, but I can say with a good degree of confidence that I will not be radicalized by right wing garbage as the ideology is stupid and does not comport with the base of evidence in the world.

Certain, lonely, desperate, and lost people will fall for right wing ideas. The problem is that people do not tend to examine what is supported by evidence in the world around them. This guy went down the rabbit hole, and there were likely many many off ramps, but he allowed his emotions to lead him.

[Ocelot II]

6. So a few testosterone-soaked numpties invaded the Capitol because they believed

TFG's bullshit while the other > 99.9+% of the population knew it was bullshit, but a jaw-dropping level of gullibility, the quantum of gullibility Nigerian scam e-mailers dream of, should get them off the hook? Sometimes being a defense lawyer requires more creativity than Steven Spielberg on steroids.

I do like it, though, that the lawyers have dumped the whole mess in TFG's lap in their court filings.

[purr-rat beauty]

7. OK, put him in psychiatric corrections

He'll regret saying he didn't grasp reality

[SheltieLover]

8. Bullshit! They knew or should have known...

[Buns_of_Fire]

10. "Your Honor, my client is too dumb to breathe without instructions."

They may just be testing to see how this is received before using the same defense for the Slobfather's inner circle.

[kentuck]

11. It's as good an excuse as any...

I suppose?

When simple-minded people are presented with a choice, they don't always choose wisely.

When they are presented with two "truths", they might not always pick the one that is factually true?

[Vinca]

12. Being a stupid asshole isn't a defense. Sorry, sport. Off to the big house.

[RockRaven]

13. Horseshit. There was a mountain of correct information which could only be avoided by

purposeful, willful, malicious decisions. Denying and avoiding reality because you don't like it isn't ignorance.

[gratuitous]

14. Gotta try something, I guess

When we deride these numbskulls as the numbskulls they are, we're sternly upbraided about how we need to understand the likes of poor Philip and his economic insecurity or fear of becoming a minority or something. But his own lawyer, in an open court filing, says Philip may look like an idiot, talk like an idiot, and act like an idiot, don't be fooled: he really is an idiot. Will Fox and the screaming monkey brigades similarly come down on Philip's lawyers?

Magic 8 Ball says, "No fuckin' way."