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A 73-year-old Florida pastor who’s also reportedly a Purple Heart recipient and Vietnam War veteran has been arrested separately along with his son, who’s also a pastor, for the alleged crime of participating in the Jan. 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The separate arrests of James Cusick and his son, Casey, by federal authorities, occurred Thursday morning, according to Cusick’s daughter, Staci.
“This morning I saw a sheriff pull up in our driveway with his lights on, and there was about four or five other cars with them,” Staci told The Gateway Pundit in an exclusive interview after the arrests. She lives with her father.
“They came up to our front door, and I told my dad to go answer it. As he started towards the door, they started banging and banging and saying ‘open up, we have a warrant.’ He opened the door, and they asked him his name and to step outside,” she added.
After pulling the entire family out of the home, the authorities then arrested her father.
“They asked me my name, and I told them I was his daughter Staci. They said they were not looking for me, but told me to put my hands on the back of the sheriff’s vehicle. My dad asked what it was about, and they told him it was because he entered the Capitol building on Jan. 6th,” she explained to The Gateway Pundit.
This is true. Images shared in the Department of Justice’s charging document show Cusick inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th:
The document charges him with illegally entering the Capitol, engaging in disorderly conduct, and engaging in violent behavior. But according to Staci, while it’s true that he’d been inside the Capitol, the allegations against her father are fraudulent.
“I told them my dad is opposed to any type of vandalism and that he never even saw any when he was there. When he was standing there in the Capitol, the police or guards, not sure which they were, were talking to him and being kind,” she explained.
“They showed him where the bathrooms were. Nobody was telling them to get out. There was never any type of warning that they were breaking the law. None of that was happening,” she added.
According to Staci, the arresting officers said they understood her position but stressed that they were just going their jobs. This answer was unacceptable to her.
“My dad loves this country. He volunteered to go to Vietnam and fight. He served 16 months there proudly. He has taken so many kids on trips to Washington, DC, to let them see this great country. He’s very passionate about this nation. He’s a pastor and he holds the Constitution in a very high regard. He hates what is happening to this country, but he would never vandalize or harm any government property, or anything for that matter,” she said.
“He’s a very upstanding man and I was devastated to see him taken away. There’s just no reason for it. He did nothing to deserve what we saw this morning. I don’t understand why they would feel okay doing this to someone like him. I think they felt bad about it, but they kept saying it’s their job,” Staci continued, adding that it made her uneasy that the officers were willing to arrest her family just “because it’s their job.”
They also arrested her brother, Casey, who lives about 15 minutes away. Thanks to his Ring doorbell, his arrest was captured on tape.
Watch:
“My brother lives in another town close by, about 15 minutes away. He was arrested just before my father was arrested, but we did not know at the time,” Staci said to The Gateway Pundit.
She added that during the arrest, her 3-year-old niece “was standing right there saying ‘why are they locking his hands, mommy?'”
Both Cusick and his son serve as pastor and vice president, respectively, at the Global Outreach Church in Melbourne.
Their friend, church member David Lesperance, was also reportedly arrested on similar charges. Federal authorities claim all three had “stormed” the Capitol together.
“All three made their initial appearances Thursday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in Orlando. They were released on $25,000 bond each, according to a court spokesperson,” Florida Today confirmed.
“Their release conditions include: submitting to DNA collection, no possession of firearms, surrender of any passports, and travel restricted to the Middle District of Florida and the District of Columbia for court appearances,” the newspaper added.
The three were reportedly outed by two anonymous tipsters.
“An unnamed tipster alerted the FBI on Jan. 22 that the Cusicks participated in the riot. … A second anonymous tipster wrote to the FBI on March 26 that David Lesperance had also gone with them,” according to Florida Today.
All three are reportedly being defended by John Pierce, an associate of Lin Wood who rose to some prominence last year when he took on the case of alleged Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.
Pierce recently launched the National Constitutional Law Union, an organization dedicated to “providing legal support and funding to individuals whose Constitutional rights, civil liberties and similar rights are being violated or in jeopardy.”
Please donate today to support these American citizens.https://t.co/25AIxzMpwW https://t.co/sJtt778iDd
— NCLU (@NCLU_USA) June 24, 2021
“The process obviously continues of federal authorities rounding up American citizens with respect to January 6th. The NCLU is honored to be stepping in to provide support for these defendants and their lawyers,” he said in a statement to The Gateway Pundit.
“It is a very unique, difficult and uncertain time in American history. What is certain is that these defendants will be pleading not guilty to all charges. We look forward to trial and getting to the bottom of what actually happened on January 6th,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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