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In case you missed it. It’s a video worth watching.
Scan the press release, if you are short on time. I’ve selected some of the highlights below.
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"The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy," Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday in remarks thanking department officials for their work on the riot cases. "We will follow the facts wherever they lead."
news.yahoo.com — Jan 5, 2022
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks Regarding First Anniversary of the Attack on the Capitol
The Justice Department — Jan 5, 2022
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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland — Jan 5, 2022
www.justice.gov
[...]
In the first months of the investigation, approximately 145 defendants pled guilty to misdemeanors, mostly defendants who did not cause injury or damage. Such pleas reflect the facts of those cases and the defendants’ acceptance of responsibility. And they help conserve both judicial and prosecutorial resources, so that attention can properly focus on the more serious perpetrators.
In complex cases, initial charges are often less severe than later charged offenses. This is purposeful, as investigators methodically collect and sift through more evidence.
We build investigations by laying a foundation. We resolve more straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases.
Investigating the more overt crimes generates linkages to less overt ones. Overt actors and the evidence they provide can lead us to others who may also have been involved. And that evidence can serve as the foundation for further investigative leads and techniques.
[...]
By now, though, we have charged over 325 defendants with felonies, many for assaulting officers and many for corruptly obstructing or attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. Twenty defendants charged with felonies have already pled guilty.
Approximately 40 defendants have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding and/or to obstruct law enforcement. In the months ahead, 17 defendants are already scheduled to go to trial for their role in felony conspiracies.
A necessary consequence of the prosecutorial approach of charging less serious offenses first is that courts impose shorter sentences before they impose longer ones.
[...]
The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last.
The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.
Because January 6th was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy, we understand that there is broad public interest in our investigation. We understand that there are questions about how long the investigation will take, and about what exactly we are doing.
Our answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with respect to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever it takes for justice to be done — consistent with the facts and the law.
[...] [Emphasis added]
As our own court filings and thousands of public videos of the event attest,
- Perpetrators punched dozens of law enforcement officers, knocking some officers unconscious.
- Some perpetrators tackled and dragged law enforcement officers. Among the many examples of such violence: One officer was crushed in a door. Another was dragged down a set of stairs, face down, repeatedly tased and beaten, and suffered a heart attack.
- Some perpetrators attacked law enforcement officers with chemical agents that burned their eyes and skin.
- And some assaulted officers with pipes, poles, and other dangerous or deadly weapons.
- Perpetrators also targeted, assaulted, tackled and harassed journalists and destroyed their equipment.
With increasing numbers of individuals having breached the Capitol, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives — including the President of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence — had to be evacuated.
As a consequence, proceedings in both chambers were disrupted for hours — interfering with a fundamental element of American democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
Those involved must be held accountable, and there is no higher priority for us at the Department of Justice.
[...] [Emphasis added]
— Attorney General Merrick B. Garland — Jan 5, 2022
www.justice.gov
A year after the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol since the British burned it nearly 208 years ago, the FBI hasn't stopped working to identify the rioters who stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Agents and analysts are combing through tens of thousands of photos and videos, using facial recognition software and cellphone records that allow them to plot the movement of people inside the Capitol — the largest such use of that technique.
Federal criminal charges have been filed against 705 people, and about one fourth of them have pleaded guilty. Judges have imposed sentences on roughly 70 defendants, and 31 of them have been ordered to serve time behind bars for periods ranging from a few days to just over five years.
news.yahoo.com — Jan 5, 2022