The single hardest-working and most reliable reporter on January 6th, Scott McFarlane has an interesting update on the case of the alleged January 6 Capitol rioter Kyle Fitzsimons to move his criminal trial from D.C. to his home state of Maine.

Generally speaking, criminal trials are moved only if the defendant can overcome the significant burden of proving that pre-trial publicity in that particular district, as opposed to another, has made it impossible for him to have a fair jury that hasn’t made up its mind. Additionally, some trials (more often civil trials) can be moved out of convenience if nearly every witness comes from another area, though rules on those are murkier.

Fitzsimons seems to be making an argument uniquely within the first category. Originally, McFarlane made an argument that has been made before in these cases (and that of Roger Stone) and that everything is so wrapped in politics that he will be convicted even prior to the trial. Translated to English: Washington D.C. is too blue.

Now, according to McFarlane, Fitzsimons is arguing that DC is too black. As summarized by Rawstory:

In the latest report by MacFarlane, Fitzsimon’s counsel is now complaining that he cannot get a fair trial in D.C. due to “significant media attention,” including stories calling him a “xenophobic” and a “racist conspiracy theorist.”

US Capitol riot defendant Kyle Fitzsimons of Maine asks court to move case from DC to… Maine

Defense argues, "Mr. Fitzsimons has been the focus of significant media attention. One news story calls Mr.
Fitzsimons a “racist conspiracy theorist. Another.. as racist & xenophobic” pic.twitter.com/222oQtVSpA

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 3, 2021

Just to be nice, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though we know it’s true that this story is so “national” that there is nothing uniquely reported in Washington DC, let’s still pretend that it’s slightly true.

We will translate the argument to English again: “We would like to move the trial to a place where being called a racist and xenophobe won’t necessarily bother everyone on the jury.” Remember, it only takes one juror to hang the whole thing.

This is not at all meant to call the people of Maine racist or xenophobic. That would be ridiculous and extremely irresponsible and offensive. But what he is saying is that, given that Washington DC is a heavily Black American city, whereas Maine is heavily white, he’s more likely to find a juror or two that think January 6th was justified.

A judge will sort this all out and – believe it or not – the vast majority of them are very good at it. But if we had to bet, we would think his odds of winning are… low to none.
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