WASHINGTON – Evidence obtained by the government in the investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol probably meets the requirements necessary to charge some of the suspects with rioting, Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who investigation led to the Department of Justice, said in an interview aired Sunday.
The department has rarely filed charges of rioting, the crime of conspiracy to overthrow the government.
But in an interview with ’60 minutes’, Mr. Sherwin said prosecutors have evidence that probably proves such a charge.
“I personally believe that the evidence tends to, and probably meets, the elements,” he said. Sherwin said. ‘I believe the facts do support the charges. And I think as we move forward, more facts will support that. ”
The last time federal prosecutors filed a riot case was in 2010, when they accused members of a Michigan militia of wanting to provoke an armed conflict with the government. They were eventually acquitted, and the judge in the case said that the Department of Justice had not sufficiently proved that the defendants had entered into a “concrete agreement to oppose the United States government by force.”
The rioting conspiracy statute also says that people who conspire to “counteract the authority of the government” by force or “to prevent, hinder or delay the implementation of any law of the United States” from rioting can be charged.
The government charged some defendants in the case on January 6 with conspiracy to derail the final certification of President Biden’s election victory.
Mr. Sherwin saw the crime as it unfolded. After putting on his running clothes and entering the crowd at the rally near the White House, he saw a ‘carnival environment’ where people listened to speeches and sold T-shirts and snacks.
‘I noticed that there were some people in tactical equipment. They were caught with Kevlar jackets. “They were wearing military helmets,” he said in the “60 Minutes” interview. “I noticed that those people left the speeches early.”
“Where it was initially pro-Trump, it deviated to anti-government, anti-Congress, anti-institutional,” Mr. Sherwin said. ‘And then I finally saw people climbing on the scaffolding. The scaffolding was set up for the inauguration. When I saw people climbing on the scaffolding, hanging on to it, hanging flags, I was, ‘It’s going bad fast.’
Sherwin oversaw the investigation from the beginning as acting U.S. attorney in Washington, a role he handed over to a new interim leader in early March. He withdrew from the investigation on Friday and returned to Miami, where he was a line prosecutor.
Mr. Sherwin said ’60 minutes’ that the government had charged more than 400 people. Among them are hundreds of accused of trespassing and more than 100 accused of assaulting officers, including Brian D. Sicknick, the Capitol police officer who died after fighting rioters.
Mr. Sicknick and two other officers were spray-painted with an unidentified chemical used by one of the attackers to ward off bears.
A medical examiner did not determine how officer Sicknick died, Mr. Sherwin said. Two suspects are charged with assaulting an officer instead of murder. But that could change, he said.
“If evidence directly links that chemical to his death,” he said. Sherwin said, “In the scenario, correct, it’s a murder case.”
Mr Sherwin said only about 10 per cent of the cases had so far dealt with more complicated conspiracies planned and executed by right-wing extremists – including members of the oath-takers, the three per cent and the proud boys – to organize, after Washington to come and violate the Capitol.
He reiterated the allegations he made shortly after the attack that prosecutors were investigating the behavior of former President Donald J. Trump, who told his supporters to attend the January 6 rally and claimed with unfounded claims that he was running for office. won it.
“It’s unequivocal that Trump was the magnet that brought the people to DC on the 6th. The question now is, is he punishable for everything that happened during the siege during the siege? “Mr. Sherwin said.
“We have people watching everything,” he said.