WASHINGTON – Evidence that the government obtained in the investigation of the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill probably finds the necessary bar to charge some of the suspected sedition, Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department inquiry, said in a statement. interview that aired on Sunday.
The department rarely filed charges of sedition, the crime of conspiracy to overthrow the government.
But in an interview with “60 Minutes”, Sherwin said prosecutors had evidence that was likely to prove such an accusation.
“Personally, I believe the evidence points to this and is likely to meet these elements,” said Sherwin. “I believe that the facts support these charges. And I think that, as we go along, more facts will support that. “
The last time federal prosecutors filed a case of sedition was in 2010, when they accused members of a Michigan militia of conspiring to provoke an armed conflict with the government. They were finally acquitted, and the judge in the case said the Justice Department had not adequately proved that the defendants had made a “concrete agreement to forcefully oppose the United States government”.
The seditious conspiracy statute also says that anyone who conspires to “oppose the authority by force” or use force “to prevent, hinder or delay the enforcement of any United States law” can be accused of sedition.
The government accused some defendants in the January 6 case of conspiring to derail the final certification of President Biden’s electoral victory.
Mr. Sherwin witnessed the crime as it unfolded. After dressing in his running clothes and entering the crowd at the rally near the White House, he observed a “carnival atmosphere” of people listening to speeches and selling T-shirts and snacks.
“I noticed that there were some people with tactical equipment. They were fastened with Kevlar vests. They were wearing military helmets, ”he said in the“ 60 Minutes ”interview. “These people, I realized, left speeches early.”
“Where he was initially pro-Trump, he rambled on for anti-government, anti-Congress, anti-institutional,” said Sherwin. “And then I finally saw people climbing on the scaffold. The scaffold was being assembled for the inauguration. When I saw people climbing on the scaffolding, hanging from it, hanging flags, I thought, ‘This is going badly fast.’ “
From the beginning, Sherwin oversaw the investigation as a United States attorney in Washington, a role he assigned to a new interim leader in early March. He stopped leading the investigation on Friday and returned to Miami, where he had been a prosecutor.
Sherwin told “60 Minutes” that the government has accused more than 400 people. Among them are hundreds of accused of trespassing and more than 100 accused of police burglars, including Brian D. Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died after fighting with protesters.
Sicknick and two other policemen were sprayed with an unidentified chemical agent that one of the attackers said was used to repel bears.
A coroner did not determine how Officer Sicknick died, Sherwin said, so two suspects were charged with assaulting a police officer instead of murder. But that can change, he said.
“If the evidence directly links that chemical to his death,” said Sherwin, “in this scenario, correct, it is a case of murder.”
Sherwin said that only about 10 percent of cases so far dealt with more complicated conspiracies planned and executed by far-right extremists – including members of the Oath Keepers, the Three Percent and the Proud Boys – to organize, come to Washington and violate the Capitol.
He reiterated claims he made shortly after the attack that prosecutors were examining the conduct of former President Donald J. Trump, who told his supporters to attend the rally on January 6 and incited them with baseless allegations that he had won the election.
“It is unequivocal that Trump was the magnet that brought people to DC on the 6th. Now the question is: is he criminally guilty for everything that happened during the siege, during the rape? ”Said Mr. Sherwin.
“We have people looking at everything,” he said.