The actions of the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6th in an attempt to stop the Congress from undertaking its Constitutional duty to certify the states’ Electoral College votes merit sedition charges, the lead federal prosecutor in the Justice Department inquiry said on “60 Minutes.” And Donald Trump is still being investigated for his role in the insurrection.
According to the New York Times, Michael R. Sherwin, the interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said on the program the violence by the group complies with the statute for sedition with outlines the crime as the use of force “to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States.”
“I personally believe the evidence is trending toward that, and probably meets those elements,” Sherwin said. “I believe the facts do support those charges. And I think that, as we go forward, more facts will support that.”
The last time the DoJ brought sedition charges against anyone was 2010, when members of a Michigan militia group attempted to provoke an armed conflict with federal agents. Those defendants were ultimately acquitted after the judge determined the prosecutors didn’t make the case that the defendants had entered an agreement to take down the government.
Sherwin believes there is sufficient evidence to prove that point, given their activities prior to the attack and what they professed during the coup attempt.
“I noticed there were some people in tactical gear. They were tacked up with Kevlar vests. They had the military helmets on,” he said in the “60 Minutes” interview. “Those individuals, I noticed, left the speeches early.”
“Where it was initially pro-Trump, it digressed to anti-government, anti-Congress, anti-institutional,” Sherwin said. “And then I eventually saw people climbing the scaffolding. The scaffolding was being set up for the inauguration. When I saw people climbing up the scaffolding, hanging from it, hanging flags, I was like, ‘This is going bad fast.’”
Sherwin noted that 400 people have already been charged in connection to the attack, and more charges will be coming against others, including possibly the former president.
“It’s unequivocal that Trump was the magnet that brought the people to D.C. on the 6th. Now the question is, is he criminally culpable for everything that happened during the siege, during the breach?” Sherwin said. “We have people looking at everything.”