The Justice Department hopes to charge at least 100 more people in connection with the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, which left five people dead, the court documents show.
Federal prosecutors are requesting a 60-day delay in riot-related cases due to a large flow of defendants and evidence discovered in the months after the attack, according to court documents filed on Friday in the federal court in Washington, DC.
“The investigation continues and the government expects at least 100 additional individuals to be charged,” prosecutors wrote in the lawsuit, citing an investigation by the Department of Justice. “Although most cases have been brought against individual defendants, the government is also investigating conspiracy activities that took place before and on January 6, 2021.”
More than 300 people were arrested in connection with the attack, which lawyers described as “probably the most complex investigation ever processed” by the Department of Justice.
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The charges include trespassing, engaging in violent or disruptive behavior on Capitol grounds, destruction or theft of government property, assault on federal and local police, firearm crimes, civil disorder, obstruction of an official process, use of destructive devices and conspiracy.
More than 900 search warrants have been executed in almost all 50 states, and the evidence compiled to date includes more than 15,000 hours of surveillance or video footage, 1,600 electronic devices, 210,000 tips and 80,000 interviews with witnesses.
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“Failure to grant such continuation in this process would likely make continuation of this process impossible, or would result in a judicial error,” wrote US District Judge Amit Mehta of the prosecutors’ request to delay the process.
Capitol officers in shock equipment repel protesters who try to break into a US Capitol door on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)
One of these complex cases involves nine defendants accused of riot-related crimes, including Thomas Caldwell, Donovan Crowl, Jessica Watkins, Sandra Parker, Bennie Parker, Graydon Young, Laura Steele, Kelly Meggs and Connie Meggs
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The authorities claim that they were part of a far-right militia group called Oath Keepers and accuse Caldwell of being a leader of the group.
Caldwell served as section chief of the FBI from 2009 to 2010 after he retired from the Navy and has a top secret security clearance since 1979.
A prosecutor said during a hearing on Thursday that the case could expand to involve 15 or more defendants, according to Politico.
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“The government predicts that more defendants will be added to the conspiracy at some point,” said Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Nestler.
The FBI described the Oath Keepers in a criminal complaint as “a large, but vaguely organized collection of militias who believe the Federal Government has been co-opted by an obscure conspiracy that is trying to deprive American citizens of their rights”.
The FBI said the group is explicitly trying to recruit former police, military and first responders.