'QAnon Shaman' attorney refuses to apologize for 'short-bus people' comments

Source: The Hill | May 19, 2021 | Celine Castronuovo

The attorney for Jacob Chansley, the Capitol rioter more widely known as the “QAnon Shaman,” doubled down Wednesday on derogatory remarks he made about the mental state of those who participated in the Jan. 6 mob attack, arguing that doing so brought attention to the “special needs” of his client. 

Attorney Albert Watkins first made comments to Talking Points Memo, which were published Tuesday, that Chansley has Asperger’s syndrome and added that this, as well as former President Trump’s “propaganda,” should be considered in his client’s case. 

“A lot of these defendants — and I’m going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they’re all f—— short-bus people. … These are people with brain damage, they’re f—— retarded, they’re on the goddamn spectrum,” Watkins told Talking Points Memo. 

In a Wednesday interview on CNN’s “New Day,” co-host John Berman asked Watkins if wanted to apologize for his previous remarks, which also included the argument that the rioters weren’t “bad people” but were “subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since f—— Hitler.” 

“Counselor, the Special Olympics says the R-word is a form of hate speech and that the word has become an insult used all too commonly in everyday language,” Berman said. 

“Would you like to apologize this morning?” the host asked. 

“No,” Watkins quickly responded while shaking his head. 

The lawyer went on to say, “For five months, I acted professionally, I talked to the people that needed to know, I made sure that the Department of Justice had the opportunity firsthand to meet with my client … to have them understand and appreciate the condition, the special needs of my client.” 

“I let them talk to my client while he is confined, not once, not twice, but multiple times, and I got nowhere,” Watkins said. “All I had to do was get vulgar, get vulgar in a short soundbite-driven quote that permitted this very issue to come to the fore.” 

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