Regretful MAGA rioter says Trump 'lied' to him in apology letter to judge
On Monday, Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post reported that Robert Scott Palmer, a Florida man involved in the January 6 Capitol attack, wrote a handwritten apology letter to the judge in his case, in which he fingered former President Donald Trump as the inciter of the violence that day.
"They kept spitting out the false narative [sic] about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny," wrote Scott in the letter. "Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones."
He added that he understands Trump supporters "were lied to by ... the sitting president, as well as those acting on his behalf."
NEW: In his letter to the judge, violent Jan. 6 rioter Robert Scott Palmer says he now realizes Trump supporters "were lied to by\u2026 the sitting President, as well as those acting on his behalf.\u201dpic.twitter.com/SWim7ZEQy9— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1639435761
"I am one of the Capitol riot people. A lot if not most of the defendants I have been incarcerated with would object to me saying that we were rioting.\u201d \n\nPosted here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.230675/gov.uscourts.dcd.230675.31.2.pdf\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/GsLfoHGYXD— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1639436278
Scott, who wore a red, white, and blue Trump sweatshirt and a "Florida for Trump" hat at the riot and was seen on video assaulting Capitol police with a fire extinguisher, was arrested in March with the help of an online activist in the group calling itself the "Sedition Hunters." He tearfully pleaded guilty to the charges of assaulting law enforcement in October.
Many defendants in the Capitol riot cases have tried to argue they were pushed into it by Trump and right-wing media, although judges have broadly not bought this argument.
