ANHouse of Representatives prosecutors are preparing to present their case against Donald Trump in his impeachment trial next week for inciting insurrection. are in much greater legal danger.
The trial that begins in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday could lead to a new vote that would permanently prevent Trump from taking office in the future. In contrast, the mob of fervent Maga acolytes who invaded the United States Capitol after an incendiary rally led by Trump could face prison for up to 20 years.
A month after the events that left five people dead, including a police officer from the United States Capitol, there is no sign of the Department of Justice and the FBI easing its relentless pursuit of the rebels. Just last week, alleged protesters were arrested in Seattle, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; Corinth, Texas; Garner, North Carolina; and Marion, Illinois.
All 56 FBI field offices are involved in a major investigation that is next to the largest the agency has ever conducted. As Michael Sherwin, the United States attorney in charge in Washington DC who is leading the hunt, said, “The scope and scale of this investigation is really unprecedented, not just in the history of the FBI, but probably in the history of the DoJ.”
David Gomez, a former FBI national security executive who has spent years fighting domestic terrorism, told the Guardian that the agency would classify and treat the search as an “important case”.
“It is probably one of the biggest investigations since 9/11,” he said.
The number of people who have been arrested, whether by the FBI, Capitol Police or local Washington DC officials, has already reached 235, spanning more than 40 states. As the investigation expands and deepens, the focus is being restricted to anyone considered to be the coordinator of the action in an attempt to remove the leaders.
The FBI has assembled a special strike force of experienced federal prosecutors who have received express instruction to pursue charges of aggressive sedition and conspiracy. So far, at least 26 people have been charged with conspiracy or assault.
“Sedition is the most serious crime that anyone could be charged with starting January 6,” said Gomez. “He is defending the overthrow of the United States government. This involves not only talking about the overthrow of democracy, but having the means and resources to carry out these actions ”.
As more is known about the prisoners, the strategy followed by the FBI is also revealed. In several cases, the people who participated in the attack on the Capitol were caught and accused of relatively minor crimes, such as trespassing or theft of correspondence, simply as a means of putting them in the clutches of the Public Ministry.
Once in the system, more serious charges could be added as the intelligence arrives. This pattern of increased charges can be seen in the cases of Nicholas DeCarlo of Texas and Nicholas Ochs of Hawaii.
Initially, the pair was accused of illegal entry into federal property. But new conspiracy charges were added this week, in which they would have planned their trip across state borders, raised money to pay for it and then made the trip to Washington DC in a premeditated attempt to obstruct Joe’s certification. Biden as the winner of the US presidential election.
If convicted, DeCarlo and Ochs could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.
Prosecutors have made it clear that accusations against selected individuals are stepping up as a way to discourage further violence from Trump supporters and their far-right allies and white supremacy. “We are going to focus on the most significant charges as a deterrent, because regardless of whether it was just an invasion on Capitol Hill or someone planted a bomb, you will be charged and found,” said Sherwin.
The FBI’s work has been greatly aided by the abundance of intelligence circulating online – in many cases posted by the suspects themselves. See the unfortunate duo, DeCarlo and Ochs.
A photo of the duo, placing their thumbs up in front of the United States Capitol memorial door, in which they scribbled the words “MURDER THE MEDIA”, was easily found online. He was included in the prosecution against them and earned them special attention from the media assault attack force created by federal prosecutors to investigate violent threats against members of the media.
This photo is one of at least 200,000 digital media tips that reached the FBI across the country, some from friends and even family members who recognized individual protesters from the profusion of videos and photos spread across the internet and promptly informed about them.
As federal agents traverse this mountain of digital information, they begin to get an idea of the type of person who was present on that fateful day at Morro. As feared, the leadership role played by white supremacist and far-right groups has changed in plain sight.
At least 10 members of the extremist group Proud Boys are among the growing number of prisoners, including Ochs, who, according to the justice department, claims to have founded a section of the network in Honolulu. The arrest this week in Washington State was also for a self-declared leader of the Proud Boys – Ethan Nordean calls himself a “section sergeant” in Seattle and is accused in court documents of having led a group of protesters to the Capitol.
Based on growing evidence of the Proud Boys’ leadership role in the attack, the Canadian government this week decided to designate the group as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, several members of Oath Keepers, one of the largest far-right militia groups in the United States, were also arrested.
Another frightening element that arises from the accusations is the number of current and former police and military personnel among them. An analysis of the first 150 people arrested by CNN revealed that at least 21 had military experience, some in progress.
Of these, eight were former Marines, underlining the danger that elite military training, designed to defend the country from international threats, would be repulsed against itself and used to attack the heart of American democracy at home.
At least four police officers who were actively serving in their posts at the time of the January 6 attack were charged and left their jobs. They include a police officer from Houston, Texas, and a correctional officer from New Jersey.
One of the emerging truths that FBI detectives and prosecutors will have to contend with is that, despite the substantial presence of white and military supremacists, the majority of those who have been arrested are what can be described as ordinary Americans, with no criminal record or history of extremist behavior.
Political scientists at the University of Chicago who studied the profiles of prisoners and published their findings in the Atlantic found that many were middle and middle-aged – with an average age of 40. Almost 90% of them had no known links to militant groups. About 40% were business owners or in white-collar jobs, and they came from relatively profitable backgrounds such as “CEOs, store owners, doctors, lawyers, IT specialists and accountants”.
The only common denominator that unites this large group is not any extremist group, website or media, but an individual – Donald Trump. That is why the connection between the pending impeachment trial and the ongoing FBI capture of suspects is so critical.
The call was made openly in defense cases compiled by lawyers on behalf of several of the arrested protesters. Take the example of Jacob Chansley of Arizona, the self-styled “QAnon Shaman” who went shirtless and wore a furry headdress with horns while fighting to the Senate stage during the attack on the Capitol.
His lawyers offered him as a witness during Trump’s trial. They say Chansley, who faces six charges, including civil disorder, used to be “terribly in love” with Trump, but now feels betrayed by him. They are also likely to use the argument that Chansley was misled by the then President of the United States as a central argument in his own defense.
But Gomez doubts that the ploy will be effective.
“I don’t think this will hold up in federal court,” said Gomez. “‘I only robbed that bank because someone told me to do it’ – I never heard that phrase work for any crime.”