How the Capitol Riot Suspects Are Challenging the Charges
Defense lawyers have complained that some charges do not apply to what unfolded on Jan. 6, and one argues it will be impossible to get a fair trial in Washington.
Prosecutors have sought to find the correct charges to accurately describe the behavior of hundreds of people suspected of breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6.Credit.Erin Schaff/The New York Times
April 14, 2021
Three months after the attack on the Capitol, the frantic federal effort to prosecute the members of the mob that stormed the building has started shifting gears.
After a nationwide flurry of arrests, defense lawyers are homing in on what they describe as fundamental weaknesses in the government’s case.
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Officer William F. Evans of the Capitol Police, who was killed when a car rammed into him outside the Capitol this month, lay in honor on Tuesday in the building he gave his life protecting, the latest tragedy for a police force still reeling from the mob violence of Jan. 6.
In a ceremony beneath the soaring Capitol Dome, President Biden, grief-stricken fellow officers and leaders of Congress remembered Officer Evans as an unflappable 18-year veteran of the force, whose service was shaped as much by laughter as steadfast loyalty, and a doting father who loved Legos and Harry Potter.
Credit.Tina Tona
The events of Jan. 6 taste as bitter in my mouth as they did the day they took place. Nearly three months later, the simmering bad feeling isnât boiling over anymore, but itâs still hot to the touch.
This attack on the Capitol feels very personal, and not just because Jan. 6 is my birthday, and will never quite be same. Itâs because I saw the attempted coup as the worst-case-scenario conclusion of 12 years of steadily mounting fury over a Black president who had the audacity to see himself as a symbol for all Americans.
Tearing up the Capitol was really a delayed tearing up of Barack Obamaâs claim of representation, an attempt to physically desecrate and obliterate the claim all people of color make on Americanness, once and for all.
New Report Warns of Rising Threat of Domestic Terrorism
President Biden requested the intelligence community complete the assessment shortly after taking office, and his administration has made fighting domestic terrorism a priority.
The Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol laid bare the domestic extremism that has shaken the country.Credit.Jason Andrew for The New York Times
March 17, 2021
WASHINGTON A new intelligence report delivered to Congress on Wednesday by the Biden administration warned about the rising threat of militias and white supremacists, adding urgency to calls for more resources to fight the growing problem of homegrown extremism in the United States.