Justice Department officials said they are still weighing charges against an additional 200 people for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, despite President Joe Biden’s imminent exit from the White House.
Among the suspects referred by the FBI that remain uncharged, 60 people are suspected of assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers, marking a possible escalation in what Attorney General Merrick Garland has called one of the DOJ’s most complex and resource-intensive investigations.
“On this day, four years ago, police officers were brutally assaulted while bravely defending the United States Capitol,” Garland said in a DOJ press release Monday. “They were punched, tackled, tased, and attacked with chemical agents that burned their eyes and skin.”
To date, approximately 1,583 people have faced charges related to the Capitol riot, including over 600 accused of assaulting police officers or resisting arrest. Monday’s announcement revealed, for the first time, the scope of pending cases, signaling the DOJ’s continued commitment to prosecuting those involved in the attack that disrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Federal prosecutors emphasized their selective approach to charges, choosing to focus on people who committed multiple federal crimes or engaged in violent acts. The DOJ noted that it declined to charge approximately 400 cases referred by the FBI.
Four years after the chaotic riot in Washington, which drew thousands of other supporters who came to support Trump after his election defeat, nearly 300 charged cases remain unresolved, including 180 felony cases yet to reach trial or a plea agreement. Additionally, about 180 people have faced charges for carrying dangerous weapons, and 153 have been charged with property destruction or theft.
“I am thinking of the officers who still bear the scars that day as well as the loved ones of the five officers who lost their lives in the line of duty as a result of what happened to them on January 6, 2021,” Garland also said in the DOJ’s Jan. 6 update. While only one Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt, died directly on Jan. 6 after she was shot inside the Capitol, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s death the following day and the subsequent suicides of four other officers are often cited to highlight the toll the riot took on law enforcement personnel, both physically and mentally.
It remains to be seen whether the Biden DOJ will attempt to bring charges against any more defendants ahead of Trump’s return to the Oval Office later this month. One prominent Jan. 6 attorney, Bill Shipley, made a “fearless” prediction last week on X that “There will not be any further arrests of Jan6 suspects.”
The DOJ figures arrive as Trump, who is poised to return to be inaugurated as the 47th president on Jan. 20, pledges to pardon many Jan. 6 defendants, whom he has described as “political prisoners.”
Among the most high-profile defendants seeking clemency are Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers. Both were convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Joe Biggs, Ethan Nodean, and Zachary Rehl, and all five face sentences of 15 to 22 years in prison.
Tarrio’s mother, Zuny Tarrio, told The Times on Sunday her hope is “100 per cent that my child will be pardoned,” adding that “I believe in Donald Trump’s word — he knows who his supporters were and are.”
Enrique Tarrio’s attorney, Nayib Hassan, argued in a letter sent to Trump on Monday that Tarrio was unfairly targeted by the Biden administration for his political views. Hassan described Tarrio as a “proud American” who upholds conservative values, pushing back against the portrayal of him as a right-wing extremist during his trial.
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The Justice Department report also flagged that just 10 Jan. 6 defendants remain detained in Washington, including eight awaiting trial. Trump has previously criticized the conditions of the District of Columbia Jail, further fueling his vague promise to issue pardons to defendants from the day.
While Trump is still keeping mum about his pardon plans, stalwart supporters and outside political advisers such as Article III Project Mike Davis said nearly all defendants should be pardoned, while floating the possibility for Trump to commute the sentences for defendants accused of violence on that day.