Almost a dozen well-known new defendants have been arrested or charged across the country, and the Justice Department has made it clear that it was investing its full weight in pursuing important cases that may amount to the broadest counterterrorism investigation since 9/11 2001.
The new arrests on Wednesday brought the total number of new federal criminal cases to at least 32 by nightfall, with hundreds of other individuals still being sought or investigated.
Over the past week, investigators have tracked down some of the most notable faces in the riot. On Wednesday, a federal court made public accusations against two rural Virginia police officers who shared a photo on their own social media posing in front of a statue of a Revolutionary War general on Capitol Hill.
Many of the newly charged accused drew attention by posing in photos that circulated on the internet or were identified (or identified themselves) on social networks. Some even admitted their involvement in the mess for the FBI.
The new cases that are emerging still target mainly people captured in photos or videos.
Evidence suggests planning, officials say
Attention is likely to turn to cases with potentially more serious charges in the coming weeks.
This spawned more complex investigations, in which promoters of public integrity and national security came together to approach the investigation as an expanding terrorism investigation.
The presence of prosecutors and agents of corruption is partly due to their experience in financial investigations. “We are following the money,” said the official.
On Wednesday morning, the FBI reported that it had received more than 126,000 digital tips from the public about the attack on the Capitol and was tracking online conversations.
Among the tips the FBI received are some that seem to show members of Congress people who later appeared in the Capitol riot, two police officers said. This does not mean that members of Congress and officials are under investigation, but the FBI is verifying the veracity of the allegations, officials said.
Lawsuits reveal frightening details of threats
Some cases made it clear the level of danger around the Capitol last week. In particular, two defendants, Cleveland Meredith Jr. and Lonnie Coffman, reportedly brought stockpiles into the city with an interest in entering the so-called war.
Coffman received one of the first charges from a riot-related grand jury and now faces 17 criminal charges, mainly for possession of various weapons, including ammunition, shotgun shells and various weapons, including a shotgun, a rifle, three pistols and 11 molotov cocktails unregistered in Washington, DC, on January 6, according to the prosecution.
He reportedly parked his truck full of bomb blocks from the Capitol building before Trump’s rally, after living in the truck in DC for about a week. In court documents relating to Coffman, prosecutors revealed that they found handwritten notes from a quote by Abraham Lincoln about the overthrow of “men who pervert the Constitution,” phone numbers of right-wing figures, including Senator Ted Cruz and Sean Hannity, and a list labeling a federal judge a “thug” and a member of Congress as a Muslim. He pleaded not guilty and is in prison awaiting trial.
Meredith reportedly made threats in a text message and had 2,500 rounds of ammunition, an assault rifle and another weapon in town.
He arrived in Washington, DC, after the pro-Trump rally, and allegedly had happily sent a text message about shooting Mayor Muriel Bowser and Mayor Nancy Pelosi. He wrote about “wartime” against lawmakers with Joe Biden’s congressional confirmation of the approach of the elected president, prosecutors say, according to court documents on Wednesday.
“The defendant sent a text saying, ‘We are going to surround DC and restrict slowly,'” the prosecutors noted, arguing for his arrest. “Apparently, with the impression that the police were monitoring his communications, the defendant later sent a text stating: ‘I am harmless … I will not shoot until I order the CRS!'”
As soon as Meredith was in town, he would have headbutted and beaten someone, prosecutors added.
“His threats were explicit – he threatened to shoot a public official live on television, put a bullet in his head. His threats were vulgar and misogynistic. Furthermore, the defendant clearly took great pleasure in imagining the violence, which he described as ‘fun’ and ‘target practice’, “they wrote in their arrest memo.
DOJ wants to keep people off the streets …
At least some of the arrests already made are part of a strategy used in counterterrorism investigations – finding even a minimal charge to get a concerned person off the streets. This may help to lessen concerns about possible attacks on possession, officials believe.
The authorities had already tried this once last week, before the pro-Trump rally in Washington, when they arrested the leader of the right-wing group Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, for burning a Black Lives Matter track.
The police then said they found two high-capacity firearms magazines in it, which generated additional costs. And this week, federal officials in New York City arrested a man on a gun charge after investigators chased online posts about an armed caravan headed for the United States Capitol.
But your strategy may have limits
The Justice Department can beat the potential limits of the law by trying to keep some people in prison – with Meredith her first challenge.
The possibility arose on Wednesday, when a judge refused his request to keep him in detention.
Meredith’s lawyer argued that keeping him in jail because of the perceived “dangerousness” alone is not enough under the law.
“Congress has restricted the government’s ability to request detention,” wrote Meredith’s lawyer in a lawsuit on Wednesday afternoon, citing the Bail Reform Act’s limitations that defendants can be kept in prison because they pose a risk escape, potentially obstructive or accused of crimes of violence, a drug offense or an offense that may merit a life sentence or death sentence.
Meredith’s lawyer argued that he should be released pending trial.
Meredith has yet to be indicted and was arrested last week on a criminal complaint, claiming that he owned weapons illegally and made threats.
He is still in detention and is due to appear before the judge, Michael Harvey, in Washington, DC, again on Thursday to discuss whether to remain in detention.
CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.