Two years after the attack on the United States Capitol, police are still looking for 350 participants, as well as the suspect of planting a homemade bomb near the headquarters of Congress the day before the attack on January 6, 2021.
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There have been more than 950 arrests in the past 24 months, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Wednesday, two days before the two-year anniversary of the assault.
“Our work is not done” and “we remain determined to prosecute all those responsible for the assault on our democracy,” he added.
On January 6, 2021 some 10,000 people, most Trump supportersdemonstrated in front of the Capitol and nearly 800 stormed the building while Biden’s electoral victory was ratified. There were five deaths and some 140 injured officers.
More than a third of those arrested have already been tried on charges ranging from simple “trespassing” to “sedition,” while 192 received prison terms, according to a separate statement from the Washington US attorney, who is overseeing this investigation.
The federal police (FBI), which is still seeking to identify 350 suspects, again asked for the public’s help on Wednesday.
(Also: Assault on the US Capitol: investigative committee asks to charge Donald Trump)
2 yrs ago: Jan 6, 5:04pm, I took this photo of law enforcement using flash bang grenades & tear gas on a violent mob trying to break into the US Capitol. It was 4 hr in my gas mask, helmet & bulletproof vest photographing hand-to-hand combat between police & US citizens. 1/9 pic.twitter.com/Je8Te5fxrN
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) January 6, 2023
Two years have passed since that day I almost died defending the Capitol
The reward for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of the person who planted a homemade bomb on the night of January 5, 2021, near Congress, which never exploded, was also increased from $100,000 to $500,000.
The next day, hundreds of supporters of then-Republican President Donald Trump they sowed chaos and violence in the Capitolat a time when legislators certified the victory of his Democratic rival Joe Biden in the presidential elections.
(Keep reading: Storming of the US Capitol: committee reveals explosive details of the attack)
“(This Friday) marks two years since that day I almost died defending the Capitol of people who thought overthrowing the government was a good idea“, declared Michael Fanone, one of the police officers who was present at the assault on January 6 and who was the victim of the violent reaction of the protesters.
What does Trump have to do with the assault on the Capitol?
The legislative committee investigating the assault on the US Capitol recommended on December 19 to the Department of Justice that former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) be charged.
The committee unanimously considered that Trump obstructed an official proceeding and incited an insurrectionas well as conspiring to defraud the federal government and to make a false statement.
The committee does not have the power to charge or decision-making power in the investigation already opened by the Department of Justice.
(We invite you to read: Committee investigating assault on the Capitol formally summons Trump to testify)
Donald Trump’s relationship for apparently having urged protesters to take over the capitol, and subsequently not trying to stop the assault, is what has the former president at the center of the investigation.
The investigative committee accuses Trump of trying to annul the elections despite knowing that fraud claims had been overwhelmingly rejected by more than 60 courts and rebutted by his campaign staff and top advisers.
(Trump) He is not fit to hold any office
At the public hearing, Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House panel that investigated the attack, said that Trump “is not fit to hold any office.”
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The committee of the House of Representatives interviewed more than a thousand witnesses and held explosive public hearings on what happened on January 6, 2021 and on responsibility for these events.
“In summary, you (Trump) were at the center of the first and only effort by a president of the United States to nullify an election and obstructing the peaceful transition of power, which ultimately culminated in a bloody attack against our own Capitol and Congress itself”, declares the text drafted in October of last year by the investigative committee in which Donald Trump was summoned to give statements.
Despite the committee’s request to indict Trump, the representatives cannot authorize charges, but they can recommend doing so to the US Department of Justice. His vote, largely symbolic, is not binding and the decision will ultimately rest with the attorney general, Merrick Garland.
Santiago Andrés Venera Salazar*
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE
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