Three years later, the United States is still hostage to the assault on the Capitol

Cristopher Worrell, 52, a member of the far-right group the Proud Boys, was sentenced this Thursday to 10 years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray while the mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was wearing a combat vest and insulted the agents, calling them “communists” and “scum.” His conviction is the last – for now – for the attack that shook the foundations of democracy in the United States. Three years later, the assault on the Capitol to prevent the proclamation of Joe Biden's electoral victory in the 2020 presidential elections continues to largely mark the political and judicial agenda of the United States, which enters an electoral year polarized without any open wounds. that January 6 have healed.

Trump has defended the assailants, whom he calls “patriots,” has downplayed the attack, maintaining that it was not an insurrection, has referred to January 6 as “a beautiful day,” and has contributed to propagating theories of the conspiracy that has permeated among their voters. A survey published in Washington Post this week reveals that 25% of Americans agree with the hoax that it is “probably” or “definitely” true that the FBI instigated the assault on the United States Capitol. The former president believes that what happened three years ago does not harm his candidacy in the face of to the presidential elections on November 5, which will likely be a repeat of the confrontation between Trump and Biden in 2020.

Threat to democracy

Biden, meanwhile, considers that the former president represents a threat to democracy and has made that idea one of the key messages for his re-election. He has just launched a campaign focused on it: “Something dangerous is happening in the United States. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. “They are asking all of us right now what we are going to do to maintain our democracy,” he says in the ad as images of the uprising appear.

It's not just politics. The assault on the Capitol on January 6 is still very much alive in the courts, although the two fronts intersect. Special counsel Jack Smith has accused Trump in Washington for his attempts to alter the results of the 2020 presidential election, resisting for the first time the peaceful and orderly transition of power. In parallel, the States of Colorado and Maine prevent him from running for office in application of the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, and there are many other States where his candidacy in the primaries is contested.

Trump not only defends his innocence, but assures that he had presidential immunity for his actions. Furthermore, he argues that the assault on the Capitol was not an insurrection and that this constitutional provision is not applicable to him.

It will be the Supreme Court, with a conservative supermajority of six of the nine justices (three of them appointed by Trump), that will have to finally decide. There are already three cases related to the January 6 attack that have crossed the street that separates the Capitol from the Supreme Court.

The first issue is the question of presidential immunity in relation to the facts. Regarding this, the Supreme Court has returned the case to the court of appeals, but it is likely that it will return to the body. Furthermore, Trump has appealed his exclusion from the ballots and has a good chance of winning the appeal, since the interpretation that has been made of the clause is a bit forced. And thirdly, the magistrates have accepted an appeal about the validity of applying the crime of obstruction of an official proceeding to the January 6 riot, one of the four for which Trump is accused in Washington. It is a crime intended to punish anyone who boycotts or obstructs an investigation in different ways, from murdering a witness to hiding evidence, but it is not clear that it fits in the current case. The judges' decision could annul dozens of convictions and condition the charges against the former Republican president.

Meanwhile, the police and judicial machinery continues to process and condemn the participants in the revolt who have been identified and detained. Washington federal prosecutor Matthew Graves, who has coordinated the efforts of the Department of Justice to pursue those responsible, pointed out this Thursday at a press conference that the assault on the Capitol was “probably the largest mass attack on law enforcement officers in a single day.” of the history” of the United States. According to the Department of Justice, Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted on January 6 at the Capitol, including about 80 from the United States Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department. “It is critical that we remember the collective damage that was done on January 6, 2021 and understand how it happened, so we can ensure it does not happen again,” Graves added.

A total of 1,237 prosecuted

According to the latest balance sheet from the Department of Justice, Updated in December, 1,237 defendants have been indicted nationwide Of those, 714 people have pleaded guilty to various federal charges (210 felonies and 504 misdemeanors), many of whom face prison terms. Another 170 people have been found guilty in trials. There remain, therefore, just over 350 defendants with their cases pending. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still pursuing hundreds of assailants and It has a list of the most wanted.

Of those found guilty, some are awaiting sentencing. So far, 723 defendants have been convicted, of which 454 have been sentenced to periods of imprisonment. There are 151 sentenced to a period of house arrest, including 28 who were also sentenced to prison.

The harshest sentences have been received by members of the far-right militias of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. The largest sentence imposed so far has been the 22 years in prison for Enrique Tarrio, president of the Proud Boys, which is difficult to overcome. The judge defined him as the “ultimate leader of the conspiracy” and applied the aggravating circumstance of “terrorism.” Several Proud Boys lieutenants have also received some of the harshest punishments, being found guilty of seditious conspiracy, like Tarrio. Ethan Nordean was 18 years old; Joe Biggs, 17, and Zachary Rehl, 15.

For his part, Stewart Rhodes, founder and leader of the far-right group Oath Keepers, a type of ultra paramilitary militia, was sentenced last May to 18 years in prison. Both he and his lieutenant Kelly Meggs, sentenced to 12 years, were also found guilty of seditious conspiracy.

Trump uses the song in some of his rallies Justice for All, that mixes a choir of those imprisoned for participating in the assault on the Capitol who sing the national anthem (Star-Spangled Banner, The Star-Spangled Banner) with Trump himself reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and closes with the prisoners chanting “USA.” The for
mer president has said that he will pardon the assailants if he returns to the White House.

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