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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2021 20:21:51 GMT
The federal prosecutor who had been overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol says evidence likely supports sedition charges against some of the rioters. “I personally believe the evidence is trending towards that and probably meets those elements,” Michael Sherwin, the former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in an interview with CBS News’ Scott Pelley that aired Sunday on “60 Minutes.” Asked if he expects sedition charges to be brought against some of the suspects, Sherwin said, “I believe the facts do support those charges, and I think that as we go forward, more facts will support that, Scott. This is going to be a long-term investigation.” Sherwin made similar comments in late January, when he told reporters, "We are closely looking at evidence related to the sedition charges." Sedition charges, involving conspiring to overthrow the government or hindering the execution of federal law, are rare, with one of the last cases in 2010, when federal prosecutors charged members of a Michigan militia with plotting to provoke an armed conflict with the government. Sherwin joined law enforcement officers at President Donald Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 in downtown Washington and observed his supporters, many wearing tactical gear, leaving early and heading to the Capitol. He said he knew the situation was spiraling out of control when he saw people starting to climb the scaffolding outside the Capitol. Sherwin, who will soon be returning to the U.S. attorney's office in Miami, said 400 people have now been charged in the riot, the bulk of the cases involving federal criminal charges with penalties ranging from 5 to 20 years. The Justice Department is trying to determine now whether there was a premeditated plan to breach the Capitol, he said.
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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2021 4:59:09 GMT
A retired New York Police officer seen on surveillance video shaking a tambourine while walking around inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with a mob of Trump supporters was arrested Tuesday morning. Sara Carpenter, 51, is the latest in a number of former or current members of law enforcement to be charged in connection with the riot, which began with protests against the election of President Joe Biden. Carpenter, who voluntarily surrendered Tuesday, told FBI agents in January that she went to the Capitol with others after hearing then-President Donald Trump instruct them to “march to the Capitol,” according to a court filing. The riot left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Two other police officers who defended the Capitol that day killed themselves on the heels of the riot, which injured nearly 140 other cops. Detective Sophia Mason, a current spokeswoman for the Police Department, said in an email, “The NYPD worked closely with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force culminating with the arrest of Sara Carpenter.” Carpenter was ordered released by a judge on a personal recognizance bond after appearing via videoconference Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, federal court. She faces misdemeanor charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
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Post by Admin on Mar 26, 2021 5:43:22 GMT
Capitol rioters made no secret of their support for Donald Trump. They donned his signature red caps and wore clothes emblazoned with his name as they disrupted Congress on Jan. 6. They praised him before the insurrection on social media and afterward in interviews with reporters and the FBI. And, according to campaign finance records, many of the same people charged in the Capitol riot sent their own money to Trump’s re-election campaign. Even after his loss in November, they threw their cash behind his efforts to challenge the election as he touted the lie that it had been stolen. President Donald Trump encourages protesters during a rally against the congressional confirmation of Joe Biden as president Jan. 6 in Washington. A USA TODAY analysis of Federal Elections Commissions records for 2019 and 2020 reveals that at least 75 of the 307 people charged in connection with the riot through March 18 made political donations. More than 98% of their contributions went to Republican candidates and committees, and nearly 87% of them donated to Trump. Despite the repeated insistence of some Republicans that antifa agitators attacked the Capitol that day, the contributions add to the already ample evidence that those who took part in the insurrection were there for Trump . “It’s yet another indicator of exactly who these rioters were – they were clearly rioters who were supportive of Republican voices in Congress and Donald Trump in particular,” Costas Panagopoulos, professor of political science at Northeastern University, said of the donations. “With each new data point, the narrative that the Capitol rioters were, as a group, anything but mainly Trump and GOP supporters is crumbling.” Among USA TODAY’s other findings: ► Accused rioters gave at least $39,734, with the vast majority of that - $24,822 – going to Trump. By contrast, donations to Democratic candidates or campaigns accounted for at least $650, or less than 2% of the total. Even that is skewed by one contributor who gave more than $500 to Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
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Post by Admin on Mar 27, 2021 5:41:55 GMT
n a Fox News interview on Wednesday, Donald Trump strongly defended his followers who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, insisting that they posed "zero threat" to the lawmakers who had assembled that day to confirm the results of the Electoral College. Trump appeared entirely convinced that the insurrection was mostly peaceful and fun-loving, only briefly clarifying to Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the rioters who breached the building "shouldn't have done it." He railed against law enforcement for "persecuting" the rioters, arguing that "some of them went in and they're, they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards." "You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out." The former president then complained that "nothing happens" to left-wing protestors. "When I look at antifa and what they did to Washington," he rambled, "and what they did to other locations, and the destruction, and frankly the killing and the beating up of people, and nothing happens to them whatsoever? Why aren't they going after antifa?" He also attempted to frame the rioters as patriots. "They wave American flags," he told Ingraham. "In many cases, they are waving the American flag, and they love our country." On the day of the insurrection, many of the rioters were heard chanting the phrase, "Hang Pence!" Following the riot, federal prosecutors found that a Texas man charged with participating in the Capitol had expressed intent to kill Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over Twitter. Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman warned lawmakers in February that many members of the right-wing radical groups that had attended the riot might have been planning another attack. "We know that members of the militia groups that were present on January 6th have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union, which we know that date has not been identified," she told members of Congress, explaining her reasoning to ramp up security around the perimeter of the Capitol building.
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Post by Admin on Apr 1, 2021 5:53:41 GMT
Two Capitol police officers have filed lawsuits against former President Trump for injuries during the January 6th mob riot. Both officers claim they were emotionally and physically injured during the riot.
Two US Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly 6 January insurrection and saying he was responsible for physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result.
James Blassingame, a 17-year veteran of the force, and Sidney Hemby, an 11-year veteran, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in US district court for the District of Columbia seeking damages of at least $75,000 each.
“This is a complaint for damages by US Capitol Police officers for physical and emotional injuries caused by the defendant Donald Trump’s wrongful conduct inciting a riot on January 6, 2021, by his followers trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the lawsuit said.
Trump has denied responsibility for the rioting, which left five people dead, including a police officer. His office did not immediately return a call for comment on the lawsuit.
Before the January insurrection occurred, Trump encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the US Capitol building during a rally in Washington held on the same day. The former president was impeached, for a historic second time in his presidency, over his incitement of the insurrection – but was acquitted by the Senate in a 57 to 43 vote.
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