Capitol rioter's attorney claims he has to 'deprogram' his client from 'cult leader' trump

[Roland99]

Capitol rioter's attorney claims he has to 'deprogram' his client from 'cult leader' trump
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/capitol-rioters-attorney-claims-he-has-to-deprogram-his-client-from-cult-leader-trump-090643777.html

Yahoo TV
Capitol rioter's attorney claims he has to 'deprogram' his client from 'cult leader' Trump
George Back
George Back·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment
Wed, January 27, 2021, 4:06 AM·2 min read
Garrett Miller’s attorney Clint Broden appeared Tuesday on Cuomo Prime Time. Miller has been charged with his involvement in the assault on the U.S. Capitol, as well as making death threats towards Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Broden claims his client was manipulated by former President Donald Trump.

“I have referred to him as a cult leader,” said Broden. “Donald Trump was a cult leader. You have somebody like Garrett Miller, who is not very politically involved, hadn’t even voted much earlier in life, loses his job and gets focused on the internet and you have, as I said, a cult leader telling him to do X, Y and Z to protect the country.”

Trump recently became the first president to be impeached twice, due to his alleged involvement in inciting an insurrection. Broden claims his client was manipulated by Trump. Miller has since apologized for his threats towards Ocasio-Cortez, but Broden says he still needs time away from Trump’s rhetoric.

“That’s what cult leaders do,” said Broden. “They prey on vulnerable people. And not to excuse what Miller did, as you said, his comments are vile, disgusting, what have you. But without going into attorney-client privilege, I'm having some discussions with him and really we're trying to deprogram him.”

[Hugin]

1. First it was the affluenza defense.

Now, it's moved on to the, 'my innocent client was taken in by a cult' defense. No cute word for it, yet.

[Roland99]

2. "incultable"?

[Hugin]

10. It needs to be tabloid worthy.

Think BoJo or Cujo.

[NHvet]

20. the urban dictionary has this for "TRUMPCULT"

"A derisive nickname for the 45th President of the United States’ deeply hypnotized “base.” seems like a good description to me. I wonder if they'll get their own entry and prognosis in the new DSM-6

[Hugin]

39. Hmm... I'm percolating on some ideaers.

Not. quite. there. yet.

TRUMOPATH? Well, something. Maybe, a play on Jones Town somehow.

They'll have to have a whole appendix dedicated to them in the DSM-6.

[Turin_C3PO]

3. I'm sure he is a brainwashed cultist.

That doesn’t lessen his responsibility though. But it does confirm that Trump and other powerful leaders shouldn’t get to skate, legally.

[gratuitous]

5. It doesn't absolve him of responsibility

Leslie Van Houten, one of the Manson murderers, has a pretty good argument to make about committing her crimes while brainwashed, but she remains in prison.

[Turin_C3PO]

6. Absolutely right.

People are responsible for their actions. They must face the consequences.

[Disaffected]

35. Sort of.

Wrong on the first part, correct on the second.

[Turin_C3PO]

36. Unless he's judged as mentally ill,

he’s responsible for his actions.

[Roland99]

40. that's going to be a somewhat steep hill to do that

[Disaffected]

41. As far as the law goes

but not in an absolute sense. No-one is truly responsible for their actions as we are all a product of two and only two things - what we were born with and, our subsequent environment. Since we cannot be logically held responsible for either, we are not, in a true sense, responsible for what results from the two circumstances i.e our actions.

As far as society goes, it is however necessary to provide consequences to unlawful actions so deterrent and punishment are necessary to maintain a civil society.

Anyhow, it's kind of a deep philosophical argument that, even if it is true, is not really relevant to law and order save the fact that punishment is necessary to combat unlawful behaviour but does not make sense in terms of revenge or retribution for a crime committed. It's also quite off-topic here so I'll leave it at that unless anyone is interested in starting a separate discussion.

[Dustlawyer]

27. I worked a case with with this attorney and he is good.

I am sure he is having trouble with trying to convince his client that he has been duped. It is hard to defend someone who is not living in reality.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. That's an interesting defense.

It's not a good legal defense, but it's not factually false.

[Hugin]

9. It looks like right now he's courting the court of public opinion.

Which ultimately he'll point to in an actual court as 'conventional wisdom'.

Rich people, due to always having been rich, can't be held to the same standards of conduct as the rabble. Affluenza part deux.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. It's quite clear that Trump is the leader of a cult.

However, that doesn't get cultists off the hook; a bunch of people went to prison for doing the bidding of cult leader Charles Manson. Being a brainwashed cult member isn't the same as being legally insane (the M'Naghten Rule and similar) so it's not going to fly in court. If it becomes 'conventional wisdom' that Trumpism is a cult, so much the better, but that won't make it a viable defense in a criminal prosecution.

[Hugin]

14. After what we've witnessed over the last three months, I'm really not sure what constitutes a viable

defense.

Luckily, the Courts held.

I think a ruling on this will come down to if the defendant was a willing entrant into the cult. In other words, they found the cult and the cult didn't find them. I believe this attorney will try the cult in court and ultimately how does the State hold a cult liable? He'll make his client the victim of an amorphous cult. They play the victim so well.

I, of course, agree with you. But, this defense attorney is doing the job he signed on for and is provided for in the Constitution.

[malthaussen]

31. If he has to convince a jury...

... legal credibility of defense is of only secondary consideration. Anyway, what's a poor advocate to do? The guy is guilty as sin, you gotta try something to get him off.

-- Mal

[LeftInTX]

24. Instead of the twinkie defense, we have the twitter defense

[malthaussen]

32. Who knows, it could work as well as the twinkie defense. n/t

[onecaliberal]

7. He's not wrong. This defense better not fly.

[Escurumbele]

25. It won't, but it is good argument for Democrats when the got to the impeachment trial

Even his followers now understand that they were seduced by a cult. That sounds disgusting when thinking about trump, but it is true.

[redwitch]

8. He should be deprogrammed.

But is still responsible for what he did.

[bdamomma]

12. exactly

and you wonder how many of those Domestic terrorists have mental health issues??? Just an opinion.

[SledDriver]

13. Have they tried electro shock therapy?

[Escurumbele]

26. LOL - good one

[UpInArms]

15. Steve Hassan has been warning about the trump cult for some time now

While many pundits and others have remained in denial about the existential threat posed by Donald Trump and his movement, Hassan warned early on that Trump’s followers were effectively cult members and would not be swayed from supporting their leader for any reason. With the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s power over his followers is on full display, as he and his spokespeople are now suggesting that older and other vulnerable Americans should be willing to risk their lives in order to “save the economy” — and of course to aid Trump’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

I recently spoke with Steven Hassan about Trump’s death cult and the power the president has over his followers. Hassan also explains how Trump resembles notorious cult leader Jim Jones and why Trump’s followers remain in love with him even as his decisions are literally making them sick. Hassan also explains how Fox News and other parts of the right-wing disinformation machine are key elements of Trump’s mind control powers over his political cult.

Hassan also warns that Trump’s followers are capable of committing acts of great violence against their fellow Americans, should their leader command it.

... snip ...

Donald Trump constantly tells his followers that he loves them. His people need and want to believe that Donald Trump loves them. Trump’s followers have a deep investment in him emotionally and personally. I would tell Trump’s true believers the same thing I would tell people in other mind control cults: Think back to what you thought you were getting involved with, and now think about where you are now. If you knew then where you would be three and a half years later, would you have ever gotten involved with Donald Trump in the first place?

https://www.uromivoice.com/2020/04/07/cult-expert-steven-hassan-trumps-mind-control-cult-now-faces-an-existential-crisis/

As his cultists were invading the Capitol, he told them that he loved them ...

[Gothmog]

16. In the alternative, the attorney could use the insanity defense

[jaysunb]

18. It would be valid. Nt

[bucolic_frolic]

17. That's a smart lawyer, patent the decompression and he'll be a billionaire

[Traildogbob]

19. So then

ISIS and Taliban should be excused for slaughtering innocents. Maybe then bring our soldiers home. Why the hell did we arrest Manson girls?
If they would have killed Pence, Pelosi, AOC and others, it should be forgiven, just cult persuasion.

[NHvet]

21. Our system has ways to handle this, we need to be strong and follow through

Sentence them to a mental facility to be "de-programmed" if you will, then onto prison once they are deem of sound mind. If we as a society don't stand up and punish them, with meaningful punishment and not slap on the wrists, they will be back, and next time they'll be better prepared.

[Roc2020]

22. Sure but he put himself in a position

to be brainwashed. If all you do is seek out media that verifies Trump lies then look in the mirror.

[C Moon]

23. He's a big boy. Let him do the time for his crimes.

If you kill someone drinking and driving, your excuse can’t be “I have a drinking problem.”

[marble falls]

28. "but Broden says he still needs time away from Trump's rhetoric. " how about jail?

[Jay25]

29. He needs to be kept from the general population.

If he is that easily manipulated, he is a danger to society and may be successful of completing hits threats in the future.

[Mr. Ected]

30. GOP 2-step process to lawlessness and no accountability:

Step 1: Blame all the insurrectionists' behavior on the leader of the clan, Donald J. Trump, thereby exonerating them.

Step 2: Insulate Trump from any responsibility because he was "The President" and this is just political persecution.

Boom. A thousand acquittals, and a true fascist state awaiting us.

[BobTheSubgenius]

33. It's not often that you hear an attorney talk like that.

Or maybe it's just me. Is it common for a lawyer to describe their client's conduct as "vile" and "disgusting?"

[Politicub]

34. This sounds like the Twinkie defense used by the murderer of Harvey Milk.

The Twinkie defense:

The phrase "Twinkie defense" comes from Twinkies, a food product known to be high in sugar.
"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression, a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense

[Lady Freedom Returns]

37. We need this guy to testify at the Impeachment trial.

This is what Velveeta Voldemort has done to people as well as putting people at risk.

[Solly Mack]

38. Same can be said of any disaffected person who finds purpose in a demagogue.

Doesn't make them any less guilty for the crimes they commit.

You charge both the demagogue, who incites the violence, and the followers who commit the violence.

As well as those who gave material support.

[BrightKnight]

42. Paul Crockett was apparently able to deprogram some of the Manson "Family."

It is possible that someone could deprogram some of the GOP "Q Patriots."

They should sue the GOP and right wing message machine for damages.