An attorney for the Staten Island man accused of killing a reputed Gambino mob boss says the 24-year-old suspect was influenced by far-right internet rhetoric and radicalized by the QAnon conspiracy theory and President Donald Trump. Anthony Comello appeared in a St. George criminal court Monday and was arraigned on charges including murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the March 13 shooting death of Francesco “Frankie Boy” Cali outside his home. While his client did not plead guilty to the crime, lawyer Robert Gottlieb cited “other right-wing conspiracy websites, hate words that have been spewed by citizens, including politicians, including right at the White House.” In court, Comello displayed handwritten pro-Trump slogans on his palm, including the phrases “MAGA Forever,” “Make America Great Again,” and “Patriots in Charge.” Comello was remanded without bail. Gottlieb told the court Comello’s “family and friends... recognize and picked up on significant changes in him over the past few months. Something dramatically happened to him that certainly seems to have been affected by that hate spewed throughout the internet.”
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