WNC Capitol rioter seeks probation; says he rescued officer, helped Jan. 6 committee
A Haywood County man convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack says he helped rescue an officer he believes was Michael Fanone, a member of the Washington, D.C., police who testified before the House Jan. 6 committee about being beaten and shocked with a Taser while a rioter urged people to kill him with his own gun.
The attorney for Lewis Easton Cantwell, 37, of Waynesville, argued for no prison time, according to recent filings in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., writing about his client's account of helping an officer being assaulted.
"Mr. Cantwell helped in extricating this officer from those attacking him, and then along with those other individuals, helped return him to the custody of his fellow Capitol police officers, who were then able to hustle him into the Capitol for further assistance," Nicolai Cocis said in an Aug. 26 sentencing memorandum.
Later "from his own research," Cantwell said he believed it was Fanone, Cocis said. The attorney said his own reading of news reports and other information seemed to back that up.
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Other factors that should lead to probation and not prison included Cantwell's survival of early childhood trauma, the fact that he went to Washington only because of an invitation from his girlfriend's father and that he cooperated with the House committee investigating Jan. 6, Cocis wrote.
Cantwell, a military veteran, was the owner of the closed Sip' Sum kava and tea house in Jackson County.
He was indicted Feb. 5, 2021, on six counts: aiding and abetting civil disorder; obstructing an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted government area; disruptive and disorderly conduct in a restricted government area; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol.
Cantwell pleaded guilty Feb. 16 of this year to one felony charge of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during the commission of civil disorder. His sentencing was scheduled via teleconference for Sept. 22 in U.S. District Court in Washington. But it was delayed due to what Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said were "unforeseen circumstances," Cocis told the Citizen Times. Sentencing is now set for Dec. 6.
Prosecutors are asking for five months in prison, one of the harshest sentences for a convicted Capitol rioter. They are citing Cantwell's actions as part of a mob, pushing through officers and propelling a flagpole toward police. During the conflict that resulted in several deaths and more than 100 officers injured, Cantwell yelled for rioters to "get the door open" to one of the Capitol buildings and for "fresh patriots" to go to the front.
Cocis said that Cantwell acknowledged his actions but noted what he said were the mitigating factors. In the Aug. 26 filing he supplied emails from House Investigative Counsel Marcus Childress, who contacted him asking if Cantwell would agree to be interviewed.
Cocis wrote in the filing that Cantwell "agreed without hesitation."
"April 26, 2022, he was interviewed via Zoom. During that interview, Mr. Cantwell cooperated and answered all the Investigative Counsel’s questions," he said.
Childress declined Sept. 22 to say whether Cantwell's interview was used in any of the committee's hearings or would be used in the future. He referred questions to committee spokespersons, who did not respond to a message. The committee, which has brought to light explosive testimony about events before and after the attack, has planned its next public hearing for Sept. 28.
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Cocis declined to give any more information about the interview. The defense attorney also said he could not talk about Cantwell's assertions he rescued Fanone.
A Sept. 22 email sent to Fanone by the Citizen Times received no response.
As part of the Aug. 26 filing, Cocis attached a May 5 Washington Post article in which a rioter admitted to assaulting Fanone. The story includes the description of the officer being dragged by the helmet across the police line, stripped of his radio, badge and bullet magazine.
"He was beaten with fists and a flagpole and shocked over and over in the back of the neck with a Taser. Someone tried to take his service weapon out of its holster, shouting 'Kill him with his own gun!'" according to Fanone's testimony to the congressional committee and interviews.
"When he pleaded for mercy by shouting, 'I got kids!' some in the crowd helped drag him back to the police line. He was later hospitalized," the article says.
Cocis said in reading the article, he "was struck by similarities in the description provided by Officer Fanone in that article and the description provided by Mr. Cantwell."
Cantwell gave that description to a "Dr. Richard Romanoff" more than a month before the article's publication, Cocis said. A Google search showed a psychologist named Richard Romanoff in Los Angeles, California, north of Cocis' law practice in Murrieta. The attorney declined to say if that was the same person or if Romanoff's report was in a sealed court filing. In the sentencing memorandum Cocis cited Romanoff in regard to Cantwell's traumatic upbringing.
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Convicted capitol rioter says he rescued cop, helped Jan. 6 committee
