1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:07,119 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,880 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the last full length non 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 2: rerun episode of twenty twenty five. This won't be the 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 2: last thing on your feed this year, but it is 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: the last regular episode until we pick back up in January. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 2: It's been a hodgepodge sort of month this month, but 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 2: I think we're going to hit the ground running in 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 2: twenty twenty six with some stories you'll really get a 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 2: kick out of. Today's episode is another one that isn't 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 2: quite in the classic We're Little Guy's format, but it 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 2: is about a guy a lot of you have been 12 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 2: asking me about. Look, it's the end of the year. 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 2: It's dark at four in the afternoon, but it's too 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 2: cold to convince my dogs to go for a walk 15 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 2: with me. Back when I had an office job, I 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 2: could get away with pretending to look busy at my 17 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: desk for the last week or so before any major holiday. 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 2: The problem with the job I have now is that 19 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 2: you guys would definitely notice if I spent the week 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: goofing off online and then quickly switching to a big 21 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 2: spreadsheet on my monitor if somebody walked by. It's okay, though, 22 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 2: I like you guys a lot more than I liked 23 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 2: anybody who ever looked over my shoulder at an office, 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 2: so I'll do my best for you. I had planned 25 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 2: on doing a sort of reverse weird little guy thing 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 2: for the holidays. You know, I was gonna write an 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 2: episode about a guy who is definitely a little odd, 28 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 2: but like in a good way. But you know by 29 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 2: now that I've never not once in my life sat 30 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 2: down and written the thing I had in mind before 31 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 2: I started. So that's not what this is. I didn't 32 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 2: even start working on that. I'm not bound to this 33 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 2: seasonal cycle. I can tell you a nice story about 34 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 2: a different kind of guy some other time. We can 35 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 2: have moments of joy anytime of year. Instead, today I'm 36 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 2: going to keep my promise from last week and tell 37 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 2: you a little bit more about the other man who 38 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 2: lost his job the same day Tyler Dikes did. Back 39 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 2: in October. Last week we were talking about Tyler Dikes. 40 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 2: He's running for Congress in South Carolina, hoping to win 41 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 2: the seat Nancy Mace's leaving. But before that, he was 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 2: one of the nearly sixteen hundred people who received a 43 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 2: presidential pardon for their actions on January sixth, twenty twenty one, 44 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 2: and before that will it was mostly Nazi stuff, And 45 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 2: in last week's episode, I opened with a funny little synchronicity. 46 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 2: Tyler Diykes's campaign launched shortly after he tweeted on October 47 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 2: twenty second that he'd just been fired from another job. 48 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 2: That was something that keeps happening to him because people 49 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 2: won't stop calling him a Nazi, due in part to 50 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 2: all the times he's been photographed in public giving Nazi salutes. 51 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 2: And that same day, October twenty second, the Florida Supreme 52 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 2: Court filed an order giving Augustus soul and Victus thirty 53 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 2: days to offload all of his clients before his license 54 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 2: to practice law was suspended. But by the time I 55 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,679 Speaker 2: finished picking apart the congressional candidate's conspiracy theory podcast appearances, 56 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 2: I had run out of time and we never got 57 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 2: to the second guy. And I paired those two seemingly 58 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: unconnected stories because they started in the same place. They're 59 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 2: both still living with the consequences of a trip they 60 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 2: took to Charlottesville in August of twenty seventeen. It might 61 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 2: seem like a strange preoccupation to you listener, how often 62 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 2: a story that's winding its way in and out of 63 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 2: side stories. We'll wind up here. I'm sure you've noticed 64 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 2: comes up a lot, even if it's only in passing. 65 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 2: Almost every one of these stories has some thread that 66 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 2: connects it to Charlottesville, something that connects it to the 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 2: Unite the Right rally here in August of twenty seventeen. 68 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 2: If you hadn't noticed it before, I'm sure you will now. 69 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 2: It's always there. Gerald Drake, the Confederate reenactor who went 70 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 2: to prison for threatening his former friends. He got the 71 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 2: idea to pretend the bomb threats were from Antifa because 72 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 2: he saw pictures of protesters in Black Bloc on the 73 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 2: news after Unite the Right. Those fake grassroots marchigainst. Sharia 74 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 2: rallies were organized by many of the same men who 75 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 2: were planning the Unite the Right rally later that same summer. 76 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 2: The featured speaker at the American Freedom Party conference earlier 77 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 2: this year were both men who had led their respective 78 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,799 Speaker 2: organizations on the ground here in Charlottesville in twenty seventeen. 79 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 2: At a twenty eighteen Brightbart News town hall, the man 80 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 2: asking Anne Coulter about white genocide was the leader of 81 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 2: a group that organized Unite the right over and over 82 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 2: and over again. In all of these seemingly unrelated places 83 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 2: and times. These stories are all connected, and it's not 84 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 2: a coincidence. Part of that, to be fair, is that 85 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,119 Speaker 2: I live here. My own interest in figuring out how 86 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 2: someone ends up marching in the streets at a Nazi 87 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 2: rally started here. It was these guys in particular that 88 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 2: sparked my interest in understanding the concept of the weird 89 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 2: little guy as I write about them today. I have 90 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 2: spent years reconstructing those events and trying to understand the 91 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 2: men who marched here. That then led to a need 92 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,359 Speaker 2: to understand the groups they came with, which led to 93 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 2: a need to understand where those groups came from and 94 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 2: what preceded them. And it's been one long rabbit hole 95 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 2: that I haven't dug myself back out of for more 96 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 2: than eight years. So that's definitely part of why it 97 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 2: comes up so often. It is what I know best. 98 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 2: But truthfully, everything is connected, and that rally in twenty 99 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 2: seventeen is a central node. It comes up all the 100 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 2: time because everyone was there. It was the largest and 101 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 2: most violent public gathering of white supremacists in the United 102 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 2: States in decades. It was a pivotal moment in our 103 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 2: collective understanding of political violence, and it didn't come out 104 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 2: of nowhere. Every story I write about the present has 105 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 2: a very clear relationship to that day, because the guy 106 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 2: was probably there. But even in stories about the distant past, 107 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: it's there, like the ghost of Nazi rallies yet to come. 108 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 2: Just recently, I spent two months writing about the men 109 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 2: whose lives intersected with the death of American Nazi Party 110 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 2: leader George Lincoln Rockwell. Those stories mostly took place in 111 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties, but that weekend in August fifty years 112 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 2: later kept Elboyan's way into the story. That kind of 113 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 2: white power march owed quite a bit to Rockwell, just 114 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 2: in terms of the ideological lineage of that kind of event, 115 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 2: but it's more than that. Some of his old friends 116 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 2: were actually there. Decades after Rockwell's death, the man who 117 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 2: still keeps the Nazis' ashes in a white urn on 118 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 2: a swastika shrine drove halfway across the country to be here, 119 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 2: and he'd told reporters that Rockwell would have been pleased 120 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 2: to see it. So while it is a funny coincidence 121 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: that Tyler Diykes and Augustus Invictus both became unemployable on 122 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 2: October twenty second, twenty twenty five. It's not a coincidence 123 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 2: that they both attended the rally in twenty seventeen and 124 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 2: back in twenty seventeen. Tyler Dykes was just part of 125 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 2: the crowd. He was some teenage nobody. Augustus Invictus, on 126 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 2: the other hand, was here as a headline speaker. He 127 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 2: had been part of the core group of organizers and 128 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 2: was at the time a member of a group called 129 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 2: the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights, which was a short 130 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 2: lived subset of proud boys who were particularly committed to 131 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 2: engaging in violence. And the night before the main event 132 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 2: to take place, they were both in the crowd lining 133 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 2: up for the tiki torch march at the University of Virginia. 134 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 2: There were hundreds of them there that night, torches in hand, 135 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 2: chanting as they marched through the university grounds and then 136 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 2: encircled a small group of counter protesters at the base 137 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 2: of the Thomas Jefferson Statue. But I've told you that 138 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: part of the story before. This is an update. Of 139 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 2: the hundreds of torch marchers, only twelve were ever charged 140 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,599 Speaker 2: under the Virginia law that makes intimidating someone with a 141 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 2: burning object of felony. Tyler Dykes and Augustus and Vici 142 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 2: were two of those unlucky twelve. Of those twelve, five 143 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 2: pleaded guilty without taking it to trial. Tyler Dykes, of course, 144 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 2: along with Colton Fears and his brother William Fears, and 145 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,559 Speaker 2: a pair of gigantic redheads from Texas named Billy Williams 146 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 2: and will Smith. Another four took plea agreements that reduced 147 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 2: their charge to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, Ryan Roy, Jamie Troutman, Dallas, Medina, 148 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 2: and Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau. One of the twelve 149 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 2: got lucky. Jacob Dix took his chances at trial, and 150 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 2: the out of town's special prosecutor handling his case fumbled 151 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 2: it so badly that jurors who watched video footage of 152 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,959 Speaker 2: the crime couldn't reach a verdict and it ended in 153 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 2: a mistrial. Augustus and Victus and a former marine named 154 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 2: Vassilios Pistols were both convicted at trial. And I think 155 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 2: I will come back to some of these cases down 156 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 2: the road, but today we're just talking about Invictus. As 157 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 2: far as trials go, this one was as close to 158 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 2: a slam dunk as I've ever seen. The charge requires 159 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 2: that the defendant burned an object, that they did it 160 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 2: in a public place, that their intent was to intimidate someone, 161 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 2: and that the way they went about it would make 162 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 2: a reasonable person afraid of death or bodily injury. In 163 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 2: this case, the defendant himself provided the best piece of evidence, 164 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 2: a thirty minute video that he live streamed from his 165 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 2: phone during the march. 166 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 3: Now we all live here at University of Virginia at 167 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 3: the Torchlight Rally, high energy, as you can tell, high tea, 168 00:11:57,760 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 3: very high tea. 169 00:11:58,480 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: Today. 170 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:04,559 Speaker 3: We all got our tour on. Somebody forgot the pitchforks 171 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 3: at home, so all we got is torches. So we'll 172 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 3: flip the camera around. You got antipo up there on 173 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 3: the hill. 174 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 2: The video starts in the field where the crowd assembled, 175 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 2: and it follows the march through the university grounds. The 176 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 2: narrator is in good spirits for much of it. He's 177 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 2: laughing as the men around him are working themselves into 178 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 2: a frenzy. And for most of the march there are 179 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 2: these isolated verbal encounters with individual people they pass on 180 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 2: their route, but the campus is pretty empty. But as 181 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 2: the march reaches the top of the stairs at the 182 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 2: rotunda and begins to walk back down the steps into 183 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 2: the plaza on the other side, the marchers know they 184 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 2: aren't alone anymore. 185 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 3: It's like a Disney l where he gets in the ride. 186 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: That way. 187 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 2: That's Augustus and Victus. Just as the counter protesters and 188 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 2: the plaza come into view, he says, it's like a 189 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 2: Disney ride. He's comparing this to the moment on a 190 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 2: roller coaster where you're at the top of the hill 191 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 2: looking down and you feel that rush of excitement knowing 192 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 2: you're about to get to the best part of the ride. 193 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 2: And the other voice, the one telling those counter protesters 194 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 2: to look out, telling them they're outnumbered, that's Daniel Borden. 195 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,199 Speaker 2: He was never charged for this night, but he would 196 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 2: eventually serve a few years in prison for the violent 197 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 2: assault he committed the next morning. And as the video continues, 198 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 2: the marchers fill the little plaza. You can see the 199 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 2: crowd consciously and intentionally form a ring around the statue, 200 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 2: around the people who are now trapped at its base. 201 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 2: It wasn't an accident, it wasn't organic it was the plan. 202 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 2: You can hear Richard Spencer's bodyguard directing the marchers standing 203 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 2: right next to Invictus. 204 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: Why why, Hi, why drop on this way, Block the 205 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: eyes off, fill it in, block them off, trap them 206 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: and after the rally Augustus Invictus may no secret of 207 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: how he felt about it. 208 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 2: He loved it, no regrets. 209 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 4: So you know, the torchlight route, it was gorgeous, It 210 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 4: was beautiful. The entire thing was an aesthetic and I 211 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 4: regret nothing about it. It was perfectly done, It was 212 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 4: falsely executed, and I would do it again. 213 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 2: So, like I said, kind of a slam dunk starts 214 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 2: by joking about how he has to make do with 215 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 2: a torch because he doesn't have a pitchfork, marching with 216 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 2: a crowd chanting explicitly racist, xenophobic, and anti Semitic slogans 217 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 2: all along the route, seeing the counter protesters already standing 218 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 2: in that public place, and making the conscious choice to 219 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 2: surround them, continuing to hold that line as other members 220 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 2: of the crowd engage in violence against the people you've trapped, 221 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 2: ratifying the actions and the intent after the fact by 222 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: saying you have no regrets, and you do it again. 223 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 2: Testimony from one of those trapped counter protesters who says 224 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 2: he feared for his life that night. It's pretty clear cut, 225 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 2: and the jury thought so too. Augustus Invictus was convicted 226 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 2: by a jury on that felony charge in Virginia in 227 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 2: October of twenty twenty four. Coincidentally, it was the same 228 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 2: week that Tyler Dykes reported to federal prison to begin 229 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 2: serving his sentence for his January sixth conviction. But Augustus 230 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 2: and Victus did not report to jail. He didn't have to. 231 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 2: He had been out on bond since his arrest in 232 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 2: the summer of twenty twenty three, and he was allowed 233 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 2: to return home again after his conviction in January of 234 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 2: twenty twenty The judge sentenced him to five years, but 235 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 2: suspended the majority of that time, ordering him to serve 236 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 2: just nine months and two weeks in the local jail. 237 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,640 Speaker 2: But again, he didn't go to jail. He went home. 238 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 2: It's not that unusual to allow a defendant to delay 239 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 2: their report date. It gives them a little bit of 240 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 2: time to get their affairs in order. You don't get 241 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:32,640 Speaker 2: remanded directly into custody in most cases if you're out 242 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 2: on bond already at the time of sentencing. There's not 243 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 2: much harm in letting you go home that day, and 244 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 2: his attorney made it very clear from the moment the 245 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 2: verdict was in that they planned to appeal, so it 246 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:46,919 Speaker 2: was no surprise when they asked for an appeal bond, 247 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: which the judge granted, allowing him to continue to kick 248 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 2: out that report date while he was appealing his conviction. 249 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 2: So all year checked in from time to time. I 250 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 2: just added it to my mental list of dozens of 251 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 2: other ongoing little matters that I check in on when 252 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 2: I'm sitting at my computer. The sentencing order was finally 253 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 2: entered in March, followed by the defense filings for their 254 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 2: appeal to the State Court of Appeals, and he remained 255 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 2: out on bond, and he kept practicing law. Despite rules 256 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 2: governing the practice of law in Florida that specify no 257 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 2: uncertain terms that suspension from the bar is automatic and 258 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 2: immediate following a felony conviction, it didn't happen. The months 259 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 2: dragged on. The appellate courts moved pretty slowly, but there 260 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 2: was no indication that the Florida Bar intended to enforce 261 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 2: their own rules. He continued practicing law for over a 262 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 2: year after his conviction at trial. Again, the rules regulating 263 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 2: the Florida Bar are remarkably straightforward on this subject, which 264 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 2: isn't always a given from a rule book written by lawyers. 265 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 2: If a lawyer in Florida is convicted of a felony, 266 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 2: they are suspended from the bar immediately and automatically, even 267 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 2: if they're appealing. The Conviction Rule three to seven point two, 268 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 2: sub Section J says the suspension will remain in effect 269 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 2: during any appeal of the determination or judgment of guilt 270 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 2: of a felony offense in the criminal proceeding. But I 271 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 2: guess someone of the bar was feeling generous because he 272 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 2: was still practicing law. Just weeks after his own felony conviction. 273 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 2: He was in federal court at the sentencing hearing of 274 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 2: one of his clients, a January sixth defendant named Anna Letchnowski. 275 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 2: Based on available records, it's not clear how much of 276 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 2: her forty five day sentence she ever served. The President's 277 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 2: pardons came not long after this. Augustus and Victus worked 278 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 2: on Lichnowski's case as co counsul with his own lawyer. 279 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 2: That's a confusing arrangement. Let me explain. She was indicted 280 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 2: on January sixth charges in the summer of twenty twenty three, 281 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 2: not long after Augustus. In Victus's own arrest here in Virginia. 282 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 2: He then hired a Maryland attorney named Terrell Roberts to 283 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 2: work on his criminal case, and a few weeks later 284 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 2: they were both hired by Miss Lichnowski in her case. Now, 285 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 2: Invictus isn't a member of the bar in DC Federal Court, 286 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 2: and he hadn't shown any particular interest in j six 287 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 2: cases before this, but it wasn't Terrell roberts first January 288 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 2: sixth case, And given Invictus's apparently pretty dire financial situation, 289 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 2: it kind of looks like he may have been paying 290 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 2: his own lawyer by providing legal assistance on one of 291 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 2: his other cases. But that's just me spitballing. I can't 292 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 2: prove that. In the two years between his arrest and 293 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 2: June of twenty twenty three and his suspension from the 294 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,679 Speaker 2: bar in October of twenty twenty five, he had a 295 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 2: small but steady case load. Aside from the January sixth 296 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 2: cases he worked with his own lawyer, he had a 297 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 2: handful of clients with domestic violence charges, a few divorce cases, 298 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 2: a dui case, pretty typical stuff. Perhaps there were others, 299 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 2: but I don't have access to any fancy legal databases. 300 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 2: I just love wasting my own time enough that I 301 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 2: checked in with half the county court clerks in the 302 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 2: state of Florida, according to statements he offered the court here. 303 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 2: Some of those clients were referred to him through his 304 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 2: volunteer work with his church. Obviously I couldn't tell you 305 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 2: which case, as he worked pro bono, but it does 306 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 2: seem to be true that at least some of these 307 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 2: clients he's represented in the last two years were unconnected 308 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 2: to white nationalist political causes, and that's noteworthy. I mean, 309 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 2: today isn't the day we get all the way into it? 310 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 2: Do you have my word? I'll cover the whole story eventually, 311 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 2: but his career as an attorney has been a real 312 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 2: roller coaster. After graduating from law school in twenty eleven, 313 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,719 Speaker 2: he passed the bar in several states in twenty twelve 314 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 2: and was eventually admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, 315 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,919 Speaker 2: and Florida. He was just shy of thirty, a proud 316 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,679 Speaker 2: father of four married and settling in as a defense 317 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 2: attorney at his father's law firm outside of Orlando. By 318 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:57,879 Speaker 2: twenty thirteen, he was divorced. That spring, he dropped all 319 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 2: of his clients and quit his job at his dad's law. 320 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 2: He sent a letter to some of his former law 321 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,360 Speaker 2: school classmates announcing that he was a powerful, successful genius, 322 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 2: but he'd grown bored of society and was going to 323 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 2: leave it behind. And that's not an exaggeration. So many 324 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 2: people got this letter, and the letter was so fucking 325 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,440 Speaker 2: weird that it was published in full and roundly mocked. 326 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 2: In an article by Elie Mastahl on the blog Above 327 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,679 Speaker 2: the Law, the letter is addressed to the gray world 328 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 2: of man. He's boastful, He's accomplished everything a man could 329 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 2: dream of. He's better than you, and he wants you 330 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:48,639 Speaker 2: to know that. It reads, in part, witness Yee, the 331 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 2: glory of my life. At twenty nine years of age, 332 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 2: I have four children, each of whom should be the 333 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 2: envy of every parent in the world. I have attained 334 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 2: a baccalaureate degree in philosophy with honorsained a doctorate in 335 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 2: law cum laude. I have acquired licenses in the profession 336 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 2: of law in the states of New York, Illinois, and Florida. 337 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 2: I am scheduled to acquire two more such licenses in 338 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,879 Speaker 2: North Carolina and Massachusetts. I am editor in chief of 339 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 2: a poetry journal. I run an independent publishing company. I 340 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 2: have opened my own law office in downtown Orlando. I 341 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,120 Speaker 2: am an MBA candidate, and I have accomplished a few 342 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 2: other things that will remain off the record for now. 343 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 2: I am of genius, intellect and cultured, well educated and creative, 344 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 2: well mannered and refined. I am God's gift to humankind 345 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 2: where the English language is concerned. I also happen to 346 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 2: have a basic knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and Italian. 347 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 2: I am musical and artistic. I am athletic and possessed 348 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 2: of militant self discipline. I am many other things. I 349 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 2: have a Cadillac and a poodle, multiple computers, and a 350 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 2: personal library. I live in an apartment downtown right across 351 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 2: the street from the courthouse. I have been to Paris 352 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 2: and Vancouver, to Cairo and Dubrovnik, to Mexico City and Syracusa. 353 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 2: I dress better than all of you, pronounce my words perfectly, 354 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 2: and have a winning professional handshake. I am everything you 355 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:20,919 Speaker 2: ever wanted to be. I mean, can you argue with that? 356 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 2: A Cadillac and a poodle and an apartment. But he's 357 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 2: sick of it. He's so sick of this world, and 358 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 2: the world makes him sick. He has nothing but contempt 359 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 2: for it. He renounces his law license, his diplomas, his Catholicism, 360 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:43,440 Speaker 2: his citizenship, and all of his material possessions. He wants 361 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 2: none of it. He's walking away, and he ends the 362 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 2: letter with this, hear, ye, my final words in peacetime. 363 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 2: I have prophesied for years that I was born for 364 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 2: a great war. If I did not witness the coming 365 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 2: of the Second American Civil War, I would begin it myself. 366 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 2: Mark well, that day is fast coming upon you. On 367 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 2: the new moon of May, I shall disappear into the wilderness. 368 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,520 Speaker 2: I will return bearing revolution, or I will not return 369 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 2: at all. War be unto the ends of the earth. 370 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 2: Augustus Stulenvictus or Land of Florida, USA, twentieth of April 371 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 2: twenty thirteen. Some of the people who got this letter 372 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 2: emailed it to a funny blog about news in the 373 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 2: legal profession, but some of them called the FBI. According 374 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 2: to his self published memoir about this time in his life. 375 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,640 Speaker 2: He then drove out to the mountains and Carolina wrote 376 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 2: a goodbye letter to his family, which he left in 377 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 2: his car, hoping whoever found the abandoned vehicle would drop 378 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 2: it into a mailbox for him. He then spent several 379 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 2: months hitchhiking across the country before returning home and resuming 380 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 2: the life he'd just so dramatically renounced. He went back 381 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 2: to being a lawyer from twenty fourteen until twenty seventeen, 382 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 2: and then he publicly announced that he was retiring from 383 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 2: law to focus on politics. And by politics he meant 384 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 2: both his run for US Senate as well as a 385 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 2: punishing schedule of headlining white supremacist rallies all over the country. 386 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 2: A year later, though, in twenty eighteen, he announced that 387 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 2: he was unretiring from law to focus on taking clients 388 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 2: he referred to as political dissidents. He wanted to be 389 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 2: a movement lawyer, and he tried. He took on a 390 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 2: couple of cases and he'd lost them all, but he 391 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 2: made a good public show of being the hard rights 392 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,440 Speaker 2: go to guy for legal advice. He ghost wrote lawsuits 393 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 2: for Nazis who were angry at the city of Charlottesville. 394 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 2: He sent a cease and desist letter to a journalist 395 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 2: on behalf of members of Adam Waffen, and he founded 396 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 2: a nonprofit that solicited donations for members of the Rise 397 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 2: Above movement who faced federal charges for beating counter protesters 398 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:27,160 Speaker 2: at several rallies in twenty seventeen, And like I said, 399 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 2: I don't think you won a single case. By twenty twenty, 400 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,639 Speaker 2: he was dealing with his own problems. His father was 401 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 2: arrested for sex trafficking. He was arrested for domestic violence, 402 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 2: although the jury could not convict him at trial because 403 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 2: the victim failed to appear. I think of him primarily 404 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 2: as a movement lawyer, but that was really such a 405 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 2: brief period of his life. Financial affidavits he filed in 406 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 2: various cases of his own during this time period show 407 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 2: he was reporting just one thousand dollars a month in 408 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 2: income from his law office, And after twenty twenty, a 409 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 2: surprising number of the cases I can find him working 410 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 2: on are just divorce and domestic violence cases against guys. 411 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: He knows. 412 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 2: He's not trying to fight for white civil rights at 413 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 2: the Supreme Court. He's just trying to make his own 414 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 2: child support payments when he was arrested on the charge 415 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 2: out of Virginia. In June of twenty twenty three, he 416 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 2: filed a motion on behalf of one of his divorce 417 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 2: clients from jail, requesting a modification of the case schedule. 418 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 2: The first few paragraphs of the motion are pretty standard. 419 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 2: You know, we need more time to conduct these depositions, 420 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 2: We need more time for discovery. Both parties are comfortable 421 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 2: extending the deadline. And then, almost as an afterthought, he 422 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 2: adds quote respondent's counsel was arrested and detained on false 423 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 2: charges in relation to a Virginia political rally and is 424 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 2: currently an Orange County awaiting extradition to Virginia. Respondent's counsel 425 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 2: anticipates being released by the end of July. That motion 426 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 2: was granted, and he was indeed out on bond by 427 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 2: the end of July twenty twenty three, but not before 428 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 2: he missed a hearing in a domestic violence case against 429 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 2: one of his other clients. That particular client must not 430 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 2: have been too upset that his lawyer didn't show him 431 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 2: to court, because that man, after being convicted of strangulation 432 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 2: and witness tampering, hired Augustus and Victus again, this time 433 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 2: to represent him in a movement case. Jason Brown was 434 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 2: one of four members of the anti Semitic group, the 435 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 2: Goham Defense League, who were arrested for hanging swastika banners 436 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 2: from a highway overpass near Orlando. One of those four defendants, 437 00:30:55,520 --> 00:31:00,080 Speaker 2: Amanda Rains, cut her losses and pled guilty. The the 438 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 2: other three are still hoping to depose Governor Ron DeSantis 439 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 2: as part of their case. They feel the state of 440 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 2: Florida is being unconstitutionally unfair to Nazis. Aside from those 441 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 2: Goham Defense League cases, though, he wasn't really trying to 442 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 2: bolster his reputation as a movement lawyer by taking on 443 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:27,280 Speaker 2: high profile white rights cases anymore. Being a movement lawyer 444 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 2: got him a lot of attention, but you can't pay 445 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,560 Speaker 2: your rent if you only take movement cases. And based 446 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 2: on a brief suspension of his driver's license, he was 447 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 2: getting behind on child support. Shortly after his arrest, he 448 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 2: was working on one other white civil rights case. He 449 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 2: had a client who felt he'd been fired from his 450 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 2: job as a baggage handler for American Airlines. Simply for 451 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 2: being white. But in Victus messed up the paperwork and 452 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 2: missed a deadline to correct it the appeal, so it 453 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 2: was dismissed a technicality, I guess, But I think even 454 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 2: if he'd filed the paperwork correctly, the Eleventh Circuit would 455 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 2: not have ruled in their favor. I mean, first of all, 456 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 2: the client hadn't sought the proper administrative remedy through his 457 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 2: union and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But even if 458 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 2: you set all of that aside, even if everything had 459 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 2: been done correctly procedurally, I think the whole situation had 460 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 2: less to do with anti white racism and more to 461 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 2: do with the fact that you can't refer to your 462 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 2: black coworker using the N word in the work group chat. 463 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 2: So that case was dismissed. And these swastika banner cases 464 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 2: were moving pretty slowly and Augustus and Victus seemed mostly 465 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 2: focused on his own problems. There was an ongoing battle 466 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 2: in the court with his second ex wife, a custody 467 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 2: battle in New Jersey with a different woman, his own 468 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 2: lawsuit against various Florida law enforcement agencies alleging a conspiracy 469 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,160 Speaker 2: against him, his own lawsuit against that woman in New Jersey, 470 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 2: his lawsuit against a different woman that he had a 471 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 2: sexual relationship with during his marriage, His attempts to get 472 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 2: his computer back from a police evidence locker because he 473 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 2: was using it in the living room at his dad's 474 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 2: house when that house got raided the day his father 475 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 2: was arrested for sex trafficking. I mean, he had a 476 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 2: lot going on. Even one of those divorce cases he 477 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 2: was working on was a little bit personal. He took 478 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 2: great offense when opposing counsel accused him of having a 479 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 2: romantic relationship with his client, but if you read the 480 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 2: filings closely, he doesn't actually deny it. But he also 481 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 2: doesn't mention that in addition to being her divorce lawyer, 482 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 2: he features prominently in her upcoming wedding as the groom. 483 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 2: So he's busy focusing on his own problems, which is 484 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 2: why I was so surprised to see his name on 485 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 2: a brand new lawsuit filed in June of twenty twenty five. 486 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,200 Speaker 2: That lawsuit was the subject of an episode of this 487 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 2: show back in June. The complaint is, I mean, you 488 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,360 Speaker 2: can listen to the episode, but this short version is 489 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 2: it is consistent with the kinds of legal work I've 490 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 2: seen from him in the past. Right, he doesn't win cases, 491 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:34,600 Speaker 2: But in Enrique Tario, Ethan Norden, Zachary Real, Dominic Pozzola, 492 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 2: and Joe Biggs want the United States government to pay 493 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 2: the Proud Boys one hundred million dollars as an apology 494 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 2: for being so mean to them about the whole sedition thing. 495 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 2: It's a stupid lawsuit, but we live in stupid times, 496 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 2: so there is a non zero chance that the government 497 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,760 Speaker 2: will simply nod and agree to a settlement that puts 498 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 2: millions of dollars into the hands of the leadership of 499 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:01,879 Speaker 2: an extremist organization. The betting odds are on that specifically, 500 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 2: but I imagine the kind of cut of that settlement 501 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 2: their lawyer would get made it a pretty attractive gamble. Unfortunately, 502 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 2: for Augustus and Victus, he'll never see a dime of 503 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 2: any potential payout to the Proud Boys, at least, not 504 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,320 Speaker 2: anything official, nothing on the books as far as attorney's fees. 505 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 2: He was initially removed from the case back in June 506 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 2: when the judge noticed that he wasn't allowed to practice 507 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 2: in the federal court after his conviction, but He was 508 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,360 Speaker 2: inexplicably able to get himself readmitted to the bar in 509 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 2: the Middle District of Florida a month later, but that 510 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 2: victory was short lived. He was finally formally suspended from 511 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 2: practicing in the state of Florida in October, and he 512 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 2: was forced to withdraw representation from all of his active cases, 513 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 2: including this one. The Florida bar finally made their move 514 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 2: in October after the Virginia Court of Appeals dismissed his 515 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,759 Speaker 2: appeal in his criminal case. I didn't bother asking the 516 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 2: State Court of Appeals for a copy because I have 517 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,439 Speaker 2: a pretty good idea what arguments they intended to use 518 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,000 Speaker 2: on appeal based on the hours and hours of rambling 519 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 2: about what I sat through before the trial. I'm curious, though, 520 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:25,320 Speaker 2: how the appellate judge would have responded to the powerful 521 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:30,720 Speaker 2: argument that a lit torch is not a burning object. 522 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 2: I wonder if they planned to put on their PowerPoint 523 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:39,440 Speaker 2: presentation about transitive verbs again. I found it tremendously unconvincing 524 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 2: in pre trial hearings, but unfortunately for every one, the 525 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,319 Speaker 2: appeal wasn't even heard. The Virginia Court of Appeals did 526 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 2: not end up weighing in on whether or not a 527 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 2: wall of flames is free speech under the First Amendment, 528 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 2: or whether something that is on fire can be legally 529 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 2: said to be burning. Hearings on this matter before the 530 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 2: trial culminated in the prosecution putting the local fire marshal 531 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:11,799 Speaker 2: on the stand to offer his expert opinion on whether 532 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:15,959 Speaker 2: something that was previously on fire could be called burnt. 533 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 2: The fire marshal said yes for the record, but we 534 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,439 Speaker 2: never did get a semi auititian, a linguist, a physicist, 535 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 2: or a poet to weigh in under oath on the 536 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:34,240 Speaker 2: nature of fire. Ultimately, the appeal was filed improperly, something 537 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 2: of a theme in looking at a decade of Augustus 538 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 2: and Victus's practice of law. He and his attorney failed 539 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 2: to get their paperwork into the court on time, which 540 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 2: is an automatic dismissal. A subsequent petition for rehearing was 541 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 2: promptly denied, and there's no indication on the record that 542 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,400 Speaker 2: he filed a petition for rehearing on bunk or a 543 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,800 Speaker 2: petition to the State Supreme Court, And at this point 544 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,759 Speaker 2: any deadline for those filings would have passed. So if 545 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 2: you're just looking at the State Court of Appeals case 546 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:10,480 Speaker 2: management system online. This case is over, so I'm not 547 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,640 Speaker 2: sure what he might have been referring to when he 548 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,640 Speaker 2: told a judge in Florida last month that he still 549 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 2: expects to prevail in his appeal sometime in the spring 550 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 2: of twenty twenty six. 551 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: What appeal. 552 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 2: I can't imagine that telling an outright lie to the 553 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 2: court is something you would do if your goal is 554 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 2: to avoid permanent disbarment. So maybe he's still got a 555 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:39,360 Speaker 2: trick up his sleeve in the appeal. The Court of 556 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,160 Speaker 2: Appeals doesn't have the best online docket, so I guess 557 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 2: it's possible that there's something there that I just don't see. 558 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,400 Speaker 2: The automatic dismissal for missing a deadline is a bit harsh, 559 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 2: so maybe that's the point of contention. Maybe there is 560 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 2: some process for appealing that decision in particular. It is 561 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,000 Speaker 2: unclear to me, and I did ask several practicing attorneys 562 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,960 Speaker 2: in Virginia and they couldn't tell me either, So I'll 563 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:11,319 Speaker 2: just keep waiting. Augustus in Victus is due back in 564 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 2: court in Albemarle County, Virginia in February of twenty twenty 565 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 2: six for a hearing that if there's any sanity to 566 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:20,960 Speaker 2: this process should result in the judge setting a date 567 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 2: for him to begin serving his sentence. Even if he 568 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:26,719 Speaker 2: does find a way to get a second bite at 569 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 2: the Apple and the State Court of Appeals, there's no 570 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,960 Speaker 2: reason the County Court should continue to extend that appeal Pond, 571 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:38,120 Speaker 2: considering the appeal has been dead since October. He's lucky 572 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:40,640 Speaker 2: enough to have gotten the hearing scheduled so many months out. 573 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:45,880 Speaker 2: The court granted his request to schedule it after January ninth. 574 00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:50,920 Speaker 2: He was so insistent about that, not just in January 575 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 2: or in February. It had to be after January ninth. 576 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,320 Speaker 2: And he didn't say why. I'm not sure why he 577 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,359 Speaker 2: wouldn't just tell the judge he couldn't afford to miss 578 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 2: his own wedding. When he does finally begin his nine 579 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:08,800 Speaker 2: and a half month sentence, he can expect to serve 580 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,360 Speaker 2: about six months of it, typically, assuming he doesn't have 581 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:18,439 Speaker 2: any conduct violations. For now, at least, he's still out 582 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:23,000 Speaker 2: on bond and he can't practice law. With the wedding 583 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 2: just weeks away, it's probably too late to warn his 584 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,720 Speaker 2: wife to be that Lake Rose makes great enameled cast iron, 585 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,080 Speaker 2: but their stainless steel pots are really nothing special. You're 586 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,880 Speaker 2: just paying for the brand you should have registered for 587 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:42,319 Speaker 2: the old clad if you ask me. Then again, if 588 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 2: you'd ask me, I probably would have advised against most 589 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 2: of what's going on here. With jail on the horizon 590 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,960 Speaker 2: and his career in shambles, Perhaps he too will pivot 591 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,640 Speaker 2: to politics now that he has nothing else to do, 592 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,600 Speaker 2: and it wouldn't actually be his first time. But I'll 593 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 2: save the story of his Senate campaign for another day. 594 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 2: His suspension from the bar was an update I couldn't 595 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 2: let pass us by without telling you about it affects 596 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,400 Speaker 2: that proud boy lawsuit that there was a whole episode about. 597 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:20,200 Speaker 2: But this is just a tiny peek into the life 598 00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:24,359 Speaker 2: of a very weird little guy. And if I don't 599 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,320 Speaker 2: end up writing at least a couple of episodes about him, 600 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,000 Speaker 2: I'll have wasted all those hours I spent tracking down 601 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,439 Speaker 2: a physical copy of the novel he self published under 602 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,719 Speaker 2: a pseudonym back when he still thought he was a 603 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:58,799 Speaker 2: very powerful wizard. Next year, I promise weird little guys 604 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,760 Speaker 2: to see production of Polsone Me and iHeartRadio. It's researched, 605 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 2: written and recorded by me. Molly Coner. Our executive producers 606 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,879 Speaker 2: are Sophie Lichtman and Robert Evans. The show is edited 607 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 2: by the wildly talented Rory Gaikan. The theme music was 608 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 2: composed by Brad Dickard. You can email me at Ridle 609 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 2: Guys Podcast at gmail dot com. I will definitely read it, 610 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,120 Speaker 2: but I probably won't answer it. It's nothing personal. You 611 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 2: can exchange conspiracy theories about the show with other listeners 612 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:25,520 Speaker 2: on the Weird Little Guys subreddit. Just don't post anything 613 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:27,000 Speaker 2: that's going to make you one of my Weird Little 614 00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 2: Guys