Mob Boss Murder Suspect Anthony Comello’s Lawyer Blames Trump For Crime
Anthony Comello was arraigned in Staten Island on Monday, and this time, his hands were free of inked acronyms like “maga” and “Q anon.” Comello was charged with shooting Gambino crime boss Francesco “Frank” Cali outside his home on March 13.
The Daily Beast says that Comello’s lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, has a new twist on his client’s defense, and he is laying blame at the feet of the president, Donald Trump. At the court hearing in New Jersey where Comello was arrested, he had alt-right sayings written on his hand with a ballpoint pen.
At his arraignment on murder charges in Staten Island, his hands were scrubbed clean. A reporter asked Gottlieb if he made his client wash the sayings off his hands.
“His mother did.”
Gottlieb says that in his client’s mind, those sentiments remain, and before a court appearance, that’s what Comello wanted to write on his hand.
“At the end of the day, after everything is known about the case, it’s going to show that the hate that’s spewed on the internet by QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy websites, hate words that have been spewed by citizens, including politicians, including right at the White House. Words matter. Hate words matter.”
But the lawyer says he knows one thing for sure, and that is this is all related to the White House and all the tweeting.
A Conspiracy Theorist, Anthony Comello, and a Mystery Motive in Gambino Murder https://t.co/UBiQIl7vSY
— Yelnick McGwawa (@YelnickMcGwawa) March 26, 2019
Gottlieb says that his client will plead not guilty, hinting that between conspiracy theories and the hate speech, Comello’s crime has less to do with wanting to kill Frank Cali, and more to do with hate and hate groups. Gottlieb is heavily hinting that his client is considering an insanity defense as the rhetoric in cyberspace is what fueled Comello’s rage.
“All of that is going to become much clearer once all the evidence is known and the truth comes out.”
Comello is now in protective custody after Gottlieb expressed concern about his client’s safety while he awaits his trial.
If Gottlieb is going to bring in evidence of the Trump administration and hate groups, he needs to look no further than Roger Stone, Trump’s longtime friend and associate who has often been seen with people from the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys, especially during court appearances, says The Inquisitr.
The members of the Proud Boys have been photographed wearing shirts which read, “Roger Stone has done nothing wrong,” and Stone has done videos supporting the Proud Boys, who call themselves “western chauvinists.”
“I’m a Western chauvinist. I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world,” Stone said.
Editor’s note: this story previously presented information that the Proud Boys were hired by Roger Stone as security, information aggregated from The Daily Beast. It also labeled the group as alt-right. The Proud Boys have contacted The Inquisitr, disputing the idea that Mr. Stone hired them to serve as his security and disputing the alt-right label, saying “we are a multi-racial organization which eschews the beliefs of the alt-right by our public statements, bylaws, and actions.”
