CASEY Cusick and his father by no means thought it might finish like this.

The pair of Republicans headed to Washington, D.C. from Florida with some buddies in January 2021 to voice their discontent over the rising anger surrounding Joe Biden’s election victory a couple of months earlier.

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WORLD TORN APART

They went in peace – but returned with their life set to be smashed into items.

The horrific scenes of violence and dysfunction on the Capitol shocked the world and proceed to reverberate to this very day.

Cusick and his dad, a proud pastor and adorned Vietnam veteran who was 73 years outdated on the time, have been equally shocked.

“We have been again on the resort and simply noticed what had occurred on the information,” he informed The U.S. Solar. “We had no concept.”

Like hundreds of others, the Cusicks attended the organized rally, and it was solely when Donald Trump mentioned throughout his speech about “heading all the way down to the Capitol” that they even thought-about venturing that far.

Casey mentioned he thought Trump was going to make an announcement there. With the COVID-19 lockdowns turning DC, like many different cities, right into a ghost city with most locations closed, he claimed “there was nothing else to do.”

They stayed for your entire rally earlier than making the quick journey to the Capitol constructing. All he might see was a “flood of individuals.”

“It was peaceable,” he admitted. “My dad at all times says there was a preacher on each nook with a megaphone. Folks have been speaking; some have been standing there with flags.”

Occasions, nonetheless, began to take a violent flip for the more severe.

Casey admits individuals “started to get silly,” and he might see protestors climbing scaffolding.

“I did not do any of that,” he admitted.

TROUBLING SCENES

With the Capitol’s doorways extensive open, the Cusicks walked as much as the steps and stood there, looking on the unfolding scenes. They grew to become bewildered as they noticed “children and grandmas” popping out of the constructing.

They began considering that maybe the cops have been letting individuals in. They witnessed individuals fist bumping with officers and taking photos.

“I needed to go to the lavatory, and it was freezing chilly,” he continued. “Exterior, the wind was blowing arduous, so I lastly stopped a younger lady and her father, and I mentioned, ‘ what is going on on inside?’ And he or she mentioned, ‘Oh, they’re letting individuals stroll in there. Simply do not contact something.’ “

Casey wanted to make use of the restroom. But, with the queues ridiculously lengthy, the small enterprise proprietor and host of the Watchmen podcast, which takes a ‘Biblical outlook on the political world’, determined to stroll out of the identical door.

They stood there for an additional half-hour, but when the riot police started to collect, the Cusicks headed again to their lodgings.

“Once we noticed the information, I used to be like, ‘Oh my gosh,” Casey recalled.

What adopted, nonetheless, left him and his father equally shocked and shattered.

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Some buddies who had traveled to DC throughout authorities’ questioning on the day of Biden’s inauguration let slip that the Cusicks have been additionally in attendance.

“The man was requested many questions, and he mentioned he went to the rally together with his pastor,” he continued. “He refused to provide any names and informed me what had occurred later that day. That was it.”

I’d die for this nation. I like my nation. I’d by no means do something to hurt it.

Casey Cusick, Republican who was within the U.S. Capitol through the infamous January 6 riots of 2021

Within the meantime, Casey moved on together with his life. His small enterprise was thriving, and his younger household was rising.

His world fell aside, nonetheless, on the morning of June 24 – six months since Jan 6.

At 7.45 am there was a rap on the door. A gaggle of FBI brokers had surrounded his home, outfitted with AR-15 rifles.

As his two younger daughters and spouse appeared on, Casey was handcuffed and thrown right into a ready automotive.

“They scared the daylights out of everybody,” he mentioned. “They began telling me this was all with regard to January 6. I used to be like ‘what did I’ve to do with it?’ “

On the identical time, his dad additionally obtained an early, sudden alarm name, and earlier than they knew it, each have been questioned. David Lesperance, 71, a member of their World Outreach Church of Melbourne congregation, was additionally arrested.

TRACKED BY COPS

They have been requested in the event that they have been members of the Oath Keepers or the Proud Boys and questioned about their actions on that fateful day.

A warrant with a District of Columbia masthead was issued, and he rapidly found the police had been monitoring his actions since January 6. Vehicles had been stationed exterior his home, monitoring his each transfer.

“One of many officers informed me they obtained nervous when my truck disappeared,” he mentioned incredulously. “They thought I had gone on the run. How might I run from one thing I did not even find out about? I instantly felt so soiled.”

“They have been monitoring me for months.”

Father and son have been hauled as much as Orlando and processed into the system with their ankles shackled.

“To see my dad, a Purple Coronary heart recipient who had by no means dedicated a criminal offense in life, choked me up,” Casey mentioned.

NIGHTMARE WORSENS

The Cusicks have been charged with violent entry into the Capitol constructing, getting into and remaining on Capitol grounds, and disruptive and disorderly conduct in a Capitol constructing. They have been additionally hit with an extra cost of picketing and parading.

Casey admits to being “shocked and disgusted” with the costs, particularly for his father, who had put his physique on the road in Vietnam. The pair have been taken all the way down to courtroom, the place they have been arraigned earlier than being launched later that day.

Their nightmare, nonetheless, continued for an additional two years. Their courtroom listening to started in DC in November 2023, and the moment emotions weren’t promising.

“On the primary day of trial, when the courtroom declared it was the US versus Casey Cusick was a very harsh actuality test,” he mentioned.

“I’d die for this nation. I like my nation. I’d by no means do something to hurt it. I’d by no means insurrect – we did not even actually know what that meant till this all began, and so to listen to these issues and to have the Federal Authorities in opposition to you opened my eyes. The justice system in our nation is so corrupt.”

Jury choice additionally started worryingly once they heard the decide trying to coax the jurors into “placing apart their bias.”

Investigators had compiled, in response to Casey, “80 pages of surveillance data” whereas staking out his home.

Pals had begun to disassociate themselves from the Cusicks – “my dad obtained horrible issues within the mail, the character of which I can not even repeat” – but worse was to observe as they have been each sentenced to 10 days in jail.

They have been additionally ordered to pay a $3,000 positive and $500 in restitution.

Whereas James was despatched to a facility in Florida, Casey was despatched to a jail in Texas full of kid molesters and intercourse offenders.

“The guards had by no means seen anybody with out a felony come to a federal jail,” he mentioned. “The caseworker even admitted there was no level evaluating as a result of by the point she would have completed, I’d have been out.”

JAIL HELLSCAPE

The circumstances have been deplorable. From cockroach-infested water programs to rotting eggs served for breakfast, the expertise was eye-opening in additional methods than one.

Casey rubbed shoulders with pedophiles, Somalian pirates, and gang members, all being fed “a number of the most disgusting stuff you have ever seen or tasted in your life.”

“You would not give any of that stuff to animals,” he mentioned with a shudder.”

Whereas each father and son got here by their jail ordeal, their agony continued. Each obtained prison data, their passports are nonetheless with the authorities.

Casey has manfully soldiered on with life – he is now a automotive salesman in Oklahoma – though fixed reminders of his January 6 hell stay.

His younger daughter now anxiously recoils each time she sees a police officer. Nonetheless, he admits to seeing the faults of the American justice system play out earlier than his eyes as an genuine studying expertise.

“One of many issues that has modified me since this began was I am going to by no means have a look at the time period prisoner ever once more,” Casey admitted.

“As a result of once you consider prisoner, you consider assassin, rapist, thief. However you by no means consider any person wrongfully charged, or perhaps they did not do what they have been accused of. You retain seeing that over and again and again. “

He welcomes Trump for his second time period and can celebration arduous as soon as his return to the White Home is signed and sealed on Monday.

He hopes an extra enhance can be supplied, too. There’s a likelihood that Trump could pardon a number of the individuals who have been in DC on January 6.

As reported by the State Legal professional’s workplace, greater than 1,488 defendants have been charged, with 547 of them going through accusations of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or workers.

Amongst these, roughly 163 people have been charged with utilizing a lethal or harmful weapon or inflicting critical bodily hurt on an officer.

Roughly 140 cops have been assaulted on the Capitol, together with round 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Division.

No matter transpires, Casey is trying ahead to a brand new daybreak.

“I’m again on my ft now,” he concluded. “My life has been on pause for the final 4 years, however I do not remorse something.”

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