On his first day as a 20 year old, Robert Morss disposed of a child’s mutilated body after removing it from the grill of the vehicle he drove. But that’s not why he sits behind bars now, or why his mother has to fight his battles on the front lines.
Motherhood is an adventure for which no woman can be fully briefed or duly prepared. It’s a journey that requires intensive on-the-job training because the handbook changes from generation to generation. The wages are not guaranteed, and depending on the worker’s beliefs, could range anywhere from love and care in waning years to a higher place in heaven one day reunited with her children.
For hundreds of mothers (and wives), January 6, 2021 fundamentally and unequivocally changed their job descriptions. Angela Morss is one of those women. Yesterday she went to bat for her J6 imprisoned son to provide testimony intended to help him retain his teaching license.
In 2015, Robert left the Army with plans to attend Penn State and follow his dream of becoming a high school history teacher. He felt called. He was a lifelong conservative and pictured himself being the “lone Republican history teacher.”
But his dreams were shattered at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
I had the immense pleasure and honor last weekend of spending 3 hours with Angela’s son, Robert, currently serving the remainder of his 66-month sentence at FCI Loretto in Pennsylvania. Robert and I sat across from each other in plastic chairs in a room crowded with other prisoners and their visitors. He and I shared laughter and tears recounting life stories and recalling our experiences over the past 3+ years.
Robert also told me of the teaching job he cherished before his arrest as well as the students who candidly told him how they had never appreciated history before taking his class.
Most American moms have memories of their children playing with Legos. But Angela’s now 30 year old son is known for the Lego evidence collected to try to convict him for 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) Obstruction of an Official Proceeding, a statute signed into law as a result of destruction of potentially evidentiary documents in the Enron case. The Lego evidence was ultimately thrown out.
Robert shared with me that he first learned of his new moniker “Lego Man” when he was ushered into the “J6 patriot pod” in the DC Gulag in 2021.
“I walked in and they all called out ‘Lego man!’”
Then they shared with him the NY Post article written about his case by Miranda Devine.
Robert shares a close relationship with his loving mother whom he describes as someone who had no interest in politics before his arrest. Angela chose to enter the political arena, stepping up to the plate to fight for her son, and yesterday was no exception.
Angela Morss drove five hours from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, PA to represent her son by power of attorney Monday morning in a Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission hearing. As a result of Robert’s J6 convictions for robbery (of an officer’s shield) and the 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) Obstruction, the Commission sought to revoke his license to teach in Pennsylvania.
According to their website,
The Commission is committed to improving the quality of education in Pennsylvania by providing leadership in the area of preparation, certification and standards of conduct for teachers. The Commission actualizes its mission through the promotion and enforcement of Pennsylvania’s Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators, through its educational outreach programs to the educational community, through its advocacy with the Department of Education and the State Board of Education, and finally, through its oversight and enforcement of the educator discipline system.
Tuning in to The Commission Hearing via Microsoft Teams, I listened as several teachers pled their cases for retaining their teaching licenses. The Commission explained that their “crimes of moral turpitude” affected their abilities to retain their licenses. Their transgressions generally involved addiction or sexual impropriety with students.
Then Lego Man’s mom took the podium. In person, unlike the others who simply called in.
Angela bravely faced The Commission, thanking them for the opportunity to speak in his case. She recounted his military background as a U.S. Army Ranger, his 3 tours in Afghanistan, and a Senate accommodation for his service. Then she shared a story that should wrench the most hardened heart.
While driving a Striker combat vehicle, Robert was ordered to not slow or stop for the children the enemy put in his way. He followed those orders and then had to personally clean up the mess.
“The sun rose over the Kandahar mountains the morning of August 20th, 2013. I was cleaning brain matter and skull pieces from the grill of the Striker when I turned 20 years old,” Robert shared with me.
Happy birthday.
These are the stories of war no one wants to hear. These are the horrors of war experienced by those who choose to serve our country. These horrors are the reason our veterans suffer from PTSD and suicide is epidemic.
Continuing her testimony at the podium, Angela explained that Robert didn’t go to the Capitol with ill intent or plans of insurrection on that fateful day.
“The arena around him became a loud and explosive theater of tragic events,” Angela attested. “He saw a woman beaten to death and others hurt. Keep in mind that he had been in extreme battle fights, rappelled into enemy territory, and taken part in missions that saved many lives.
“J6 was not a defining moment for him. It was a tragic event.”
Angela shared the trials and traumas Robert has faced since his arrest, including physical and sexual assault at the hands of five guards in the DC Gulag, extreme weight loss due to poor diet, 23-and-1 solitary confinement, and a cell where the lights were never turned off for over a year. Even when Robert was attacked by the guards, he did not respond in violence, Angela claims.
But she also mentioned the blessings. President Trump knows her son’s name and his plight. Among many victories, this mom has been to Mar a Lago and had the ear of the General Counsel of a Congressional member of the Weaponization Committee.
And Robert is still teaching. He’s helping men in prison earn their GEDs.
Regardless of Angela’s respectful and compelling testimony, The Commission voted unanimously yesterday to revoke his Pennsylvania teaching license while briefly outlining his path to attempt to earn it back.
“They chose to only revoke on one count instead of each of his convictions. They were polite and respectful. Much better than going into a federal court room. They were clear in stating that it was required by law to be revoked,” Angela recounted.
In reality, this isn’t about Robert going back to teaching high school history, because he will tell you God has other plans for him. This is about the battle for truth and justice.
The fallout for families (and communities) of J6 defendants is more monumental than most even know. It goes much deeper than legal battles, financial woes, and prison time. Wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, siblings, children, aunts, uncles, friends, co-workers, and even students are affected in life-altering ways.
What the adversaries don’t realize is that they are forging heroes and rockstars, as Robert would call them, for God’s Eternal Army.
