Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, a reporter asked directly on a press call whether investigators looked at the role Trump played during the protest: ‘We look at all the actors here and everyone who played a role, and if the evidence for it fits the elements of the crime, they will be charged. ‘
Law enforcement officials in Washington are moving quickly to file criminal charges against rioters during the storms of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, even though police in the Capitol have serious questions about how the building was allowed in the first place.
Federal prosecutors have charged 15 criminal cases in connection with the riot, Sherwin said, including one man arrested with a military semi-automatic rifle and 11 Molotov cocktails “ready to go.”
“Make no mistake about this. It was a very dangerous situation. We are aggressively trying to address these issues as soon as possible,” Sherwin added.
Most cases involve unauthorized access to the Capitol and the Capitol site. He said they are also prosecuting cases involving firearms and theft of property.
“There was a large amount of robbery at the Capitol. Material was stolen from several offices,” Sherwin said.
The accused are expected to appear before a federal magistrate judge later Thursday. Full details of the charges were not yet available. A further 40 people have been charged in the DC Superior Court, many of which include charges ranging from illegal access to certain parts of the Capitol site.
FBI digital experts spent the night capturing surveillance videos of the Capitol buildings and the surrounding area of the complex, using software to match images and faces with social media messages containing the chaos. In some cases, people involved in the storming of the Capitol before the protest made social media messages that were clear what their plans were, that federal prosecutors could use to file complaints.
Defendants appear in court
The first accused arrested during the riots in Capitol appeared in DC Superior Court on Thursday and prosecutors asked the judge to bar the accused in the city, noting that they are not residents.
Judge Juliet McKenna ordered Michael Jared Amos, 38, of Florida, to stay out of the District of Columbia until further notice, allowing him only in the capital for court-related actions. Amos is charged Wednesday with illegal access to the U.S. Capitol building and violating the evening clock by 6 p.m. by the mayor. Amos is accused of disobeying the orders of Capitol police officers and Metropolitan police officers, and of ignoring the nationwide curfew. He pleaded not guilty.
Another accused, David Ross, 33, of Massachusetts, pleaded not guilty to unlawful access and violating the evening clock at 6 p.m. He was also ordered by the judge to stay away from Washington.
Rosen and other federal officials are coordinating the response, but they also face questions about why law enforcers appeared unprepared for the onslaught that has in many ways already been telegraphed by Trump and his supporters on social media.
Wednesday’s riots at the Capitol sparked tangible anger among lawmakers and raised a number of questions about how the building was so raided. Lawmakers promise to investigate the response and ask for dismissal, surprised at the lack of readiness among law enforcers, as it has been known for weeks that Trump would promote a rally that he said was aimed at certifying President-elect Joe Pray, to certify. win.
Congress wants to shoot over security breach
House President Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called for Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to resign, saying she had not yet received a call from the head of the US Capitol Police. And Pelosi said she was notified that the house sergeant, Paul Irving, was going to resign.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that he plans to fire Senate Sergeant Michael Stenger when Democrats take the majority after Jan. 20. McConnell, and Schumer was expected to eventually replace him. But Schumer makes it clear that Stenger must either resign or be fired following the events.
McConnell said in a statement that the riots were “a massive failure of institutions, protocols and planning that should protect the first branch of our federal government.”
The committees for administration and administration of the house, which both oversee the Capitol police, say they plan to investigate the riots, and several congressional assistants said ‘heads at the Capitol should roll over’ the failures in safety.
“It was an unspeakable tragedy and travesty and a huge security failure,” Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday. “Massive security failure. I think a lot of people should lose their jobs over this, over what happened.”
More than 18 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the national guard assisted in the response on Wednesday, Capitol police said, and more than 50 Capitol and Metropolitan police officers were injured.
Sund said Thursday that Capitol police are reviewing the incident and the planning involved, but largely defended the response. Sund said police in the Capitol and other law enforcement agencies were “actively attacked” with metal pipes and other weapons, and that the rioters were “determined to enter the Capitol building by inflicting major damage.”
“The USCP has come up with a solid plan to address the expected first amendment activities. But make no mistake – these mass riots were not activities of the first amendment; they were criminal riotous behavior,” Sund said. . “The actions of the USCP officers were heroic given the situation they faced.”
The rioters violated the Capitol building and the Senate chamber, looted the offices of Pelosi and other Capitol offices and a laptop was stolen from the office of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. One woman was shot by a U.S. police officer in the Capitol and later died.
Merkley said rioters “ripped things off the walls”, including art from a well-known artist, and stole a laptop that sat on a table. He also showed a cigarette butt that had been knocked out and a Trump 2020 flag that had been left behind.
“This office is in the trash. You can see the debris lying all over the floor,” Merkley said.
DC Police Response
According to a mayor’s spokesman, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington made 80 arrests related to riots in downtown Washington this week. Most of the arrests were made for violating the curfew rule after the mayor of Murcia, DC, imposed a curfew rule in the city at 6 p.m. Other charges included weapons charges and illegal entry.
Bowser told a news conference on Thursday that it would take time to figure out what happened, but “it was obviously a failure.” However, she made it clear that the DC police’s responsibility was only to assist federal partners upon request.
“We can not decide for the Capitol, the members of Congress, that we are going to be their police department. But we are ready to assist them anyway,” she said.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters there were “talks” before the events Wednesday with Capitol police, but they did not seek help from the DC National Guard. He said there would be 6,200 forces from the DC National Guard and from neighboring states to support the Metropolitan and Capitol police, and security measures would be in place for at least the next 30 days.
DC Attorney General Karl Racine said Thursday that federal law enforcement officers failed DC in dealing with the rioters Wednesday, but noted that it is not in its jurisdiction to prosecute the majority of the offenses. .
“DC law enforcement officers honestly did their job. And they went out and then they helped the police in the capital to restore order and arrested people based on the curfew order that Mayor Bowser appealed to. Our federal partners have we were let down, “Racine said. in an interview Thursday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
Part of the answer Thursday includes repairing and building new fencing that is harder to break around the Capitol west-facing site to protect the area that will be used within two weeks for the inauguration ceremony. Trump supporters can be seen on Wednesday swarming across the stage where Biden will take the oath of office.
On Wednesday, CNN reported that a law enforcement source confirmed that pipe bombs had been found at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, the Republican National Committee and the site of the U.S. capital. The source said all the devices were safely detonated by police. A source told CNN there could also be costs involved.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Jessica Schneider, Manu Raju, Ted Barrett, Nicky Robertson, Alex Marquardt, Brian Fung, Daniella Diaz, Kristin Wilson and Pete Muntean contributed to this report.