When Dr. Anthony Fauci told a congressional subcommittee that he and his family were receiving death threats, a young man sitting in the first row of the audience made derisive, funny faces, raising the question: Who the hell behaves like that?
The answer is Brandon Fellows, a 30-year-old chimney repairman from New York state who just finished a three-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Watching this Trump acolyte disrespect Fauci was a reminder that the former president being convicted in a trial for paying money to keep him quiet is a relatively minor criminal case compared to his continued efforts to destabilize democracy with the power of his delusional base.
“Everything from harassment from emails, texts, letters to me, my wife, my three daughters,” Fauci said. “There have been credible death threats to the arrest of two individuals — and credible death threats mean somebody was explicitly coming to kill me. And that required me to have protective services essentially all the time.”
Fellows, 30, reacted like a child devoid of empathy at the hearing, stretching out his lower lip in an “oh poor kid” gesture. He appears to have returned to the Capitol with the same attitude expressed in the January 6 postings, which were used as evidence in the trial against him for obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct.
“It warms my heart to see these members fearing for their lives,” he posted. “For what they have done and are doing to this country, I hope they live in constant fear.”
In an interview with The Daily Beast on Tuesday, Fellows defended the mockery that went on to Fauci’s face behind his back, despite the doctor’s revelations that he and his family had received death threats.
“He’s not a victim, he’s a perpetrator,” Fellows said.
Brandon Fellows (right) makes a face during Dr. Anthony Fauci’s testimony during a congressional hearing.
CSPAN2
Fellows was last at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when he was one of thousands of people incited by Trump to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s legitimate victory. Fellows wore a fake red beard and waved a Trump 2020 flag while standing on top of broken furniture in the Senate wing.
A prosecutor later called him “a cheerleader” who was “glorifying the violence of his fellow rioters.”
At one point, he sat on the desk of Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) with his feet up and smoked marijuana. He later described January 6 as the best day of his life.
“That was 100 percent my best day,” he told The Daily Beast.
Following his arrest on January 16, 2021, Fellows was initially granted pre-trial release but was remanded after repeatedly violating its conditions. He was placed in a wing of the DC jail called the “Patriot Pod” along with three dozen other inmates on January 6. He was nicknamed Elon due to his love for Elon Musk.
“Also because I speak fast like him,” he added.
He regularly sang the national anthem with other inmates — 17 of them convicted of assaulting police officers — who later made a recording of it that was played at Trump’s rally on March 16 as the former president saluted.
Peers counted down November 4, 2021, as another great day, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Visited the prison Along with several other members of Congress, he described Fellows and the other inmates as “political prisoners.”
Fellows was tried in 2023 and behaved like a mini-Trump, firing several lawyers and accusing US District Judge Trevor McFadden of being a “modern-day Nazi” in a “kangaroo court.” The jury found Fellows guilty Criminal,
“In all my years as a judge, and before that as a litigator, I have never witnessed such disgraceful conduct,” McFadden told him during sentencing. “You have repeatedly made a mockery of these proceedings.”
What McFadden said could easily apply to Trump as well, as he has been mired in legal troubles of his own.
“There is no grand conspiracy. Rather it is your disregard for every effort to conduct your affairs lawfully which has led you to this situation.”
Conversely, the judge’s next words could have applied to all MAGA followers who allow themselves to be controlled by their leader, who lures them into a delusion generated by a reality show.
“It’s time for you to grow up!”
The judge added five months for contempt to the 37-month sentence prescribed by guidelines, followed by five years of probation. After serving time before trial, Fellows was released on May 20. He returned to the Capitol on Monday to attend a hearing on Fauci by a subcommittee whose members included the congresswoman who made his day by visiting him and other inmates in jail on Jan. 6.
Greene and other Republicans showed the expressions on Fauci’s face as they spoke out against him. Greene insisted on addressing him as “Mr. Fauci” because “you’re not a doctor.” She accused him of making children wear “unnecessary masks” and at one point waved a picture of a beagle, which she said he uses for experiments in “disgusting, bad science.”
“You should go to jail!” he said.
Greene’s fan, who had just gotten out of jail, told The Daily Beast that as he got up to leave, he also said Fauci should be behind bars. The fellow denied reports that he was escorted out by a Capitol Police officer.
“He made sure I was still headed toward the door, and I was leaving,” Fellows said.
Later on Monday, he posted on Facebook about his return to the Capitol.
“Everything is going well for me here in DC,” he wrote. His Twitter total reached over 1 million views in just a few hours after returning to the Capitol. “Maybe it’ll hit 2 million?”
He said Tuesday he met with a new probation officer, whom he described as “the most calm and composed.”
“Although he probably won’t admit it, I saw him smile while watching Fauci’s video,” Fellows posted.
Make America sane again.
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