Riot on Capitol Hill: Justice Department indicted at least 150 people

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The milestone of 150 indicted in the riot comes less than a day after the US House forwarded an impeachment article to the Senate against former President Donald Trump for inciting insurgency. Trump will now face a trial in the same Senate chamber that the rioters – aimed at stopping Congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory – violated minutes after Senate members rushed to the security.

Investigators used 500 subpoenas and grand jury search warrants to gather information as part of the unprecedented large-scale investigation, Michael Sherwin, the top US prosecutor in Washington, said at a conference on Tuesday. hurry.

Sedition, among other accusations, is “what we’re trying to build toward,” Sherwin said.

The net has spread across the country, with arrests in Florida, California, New Hampshire and Hawaii.

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Many of the at least 150 defendants CNN has identified have been charged with entering a restricted-access building without legal authorization, violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol. The most serious charges ranged from theft of government property, conspiracy, interstate threats, to assault against law enforcement.

The Justice Department now has more than 400 subjects in its investigation, Sherwin said Tuesday.

Steven D’Antuono, of the FBI, said the agency had received 200,000 digital media tips from the public about the insurgency.

Law enforcement officials told CNN they expected hundreds of other rioters to be arrested in the future. But they also say investigators have started to focus on the more complex cases, like the extremist groups that participated in the attack, and less on the arrests and accusations of fruit at hand.

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Sherwin said prosecutors plan to charge the Capitol Riot defendants with sedition, as well as seek out groups from various states that have coordinated the Capitol coming and other long-term planning activities.

“We’re going to reach a plateau, I think, in the very near future … and the plateau will involve looking at more complicated conspiracy cases related to possible coordination between militias,” Sherwin said.

So far, the Justice Department has prosecuted widely identified people on the Internet for violent entry and trespassing, and some police violence and weapons charges.

Cases that have already resulted in arrests are progressing slowly, with many accused before federal judges in their home states before moving to Washington, DC. There’s a bottleneck in DC federal court as well, and many have yet to see a judge or have been formally charged. The Justice Department has agreed to allow many defendants to be released pending trial, with various restrictions, including stay orders from DC.

A few defendants, such as men who allegedly threatened to kill lawmakers or brought bombs to Capitol Hill, will remain in custody, judges have ruled, and a handful are in jail as federal judges reconsider their detention decisions.

During the riot, prosecutors say about 81 Capitol Hill police officers and 58 DC metro police officers were assaulted. Capitol Hill officer Brian Sicknick died in response to the riot, “due to injuries sustained while on duty,” according to a statement from Capitol Police.

More costs to come

D’Antuono, deputy director of the FBI in Washington, DC, told reporters on Tuesday that investigators were still looking for rioters on Capitol Hill who assaulted law enforcement officers and the person (s) responsible for the bomb planting. outside the headquarters buildings of the Republican and Democratic parties.

The agency is still offering a reward of $ 75,000 for its assistance in the homemade bomb investigation, D’Antuono said.

“It’s a challenge, it’s complex and it’s big… in the FBI, we do big, we make challenges, we make complexes,” D’Antuono said at a press conference. “This case is unique in its scope and number of subjects.”

The wave of arrests and charges takes place against the backdrop of the new Biden administration starting to take the reins of the Justice Department, which could be a testament to their continued absence.

A whistleblower holding an envelope.

Filing such major charges would likely require the approval of new officials in the Biden administration at the seat of justice, which is currently headed by Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson and Acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin. Confirmation by the Senate of Biden’s selection for Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco is likely weeks away.
Sedition is a Civil War era law that provides sentences of up to 20 years for conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government and use force to oppose U.S. government authority or to delay the execution of a US law. Last summer, amid street protests following the police assassination of George Floyd, then Attorney General William Barr urged federal prosecutors to use the law against leftist protesters, a move no one did not take.

This story has been updated with information from the FBI and the Department of Justice.

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