With the estimated amount of damage to the building estimated at $1.5 million, prosecutors are including the cost of repairing the US Capitol on to the people charged in the January 6th domestic terrorism attack, the Washington Post reports.
When US Attorneys reached a plea deal with Paul Hodges of Tampa, who pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress on Wednesday, they included a provision stating that Hodges will be responsible for paying for a portion of the damage.
“Your client acknowledges that the riot that occurred on January 6, 2021, caused as of May 17, 2021, approximately $1,495,326.55 damage to the United States Capitol,” stated a plea agreement letter sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky and signed by Hodgkins and his attorney in May. Hodges agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the US Treasury.
Defense attorneys representing other people involved in the January 6th coup attempt say that plea negotiations they’re undertaking include restitution for damages, even though the charges specified do not include specific accusations of causing damage.
“The building was not insured, so the costs are going to fall on taxpayers — on all of us — if it doesn’t fall on the persons who caused the damage,” Ashton T. Kirsch, a Wisconsin lawyer, said. “The hard part is what’s more fair — to have it paid by taxpayers or by some broad set of defendants who may or may not have caused the specific damage in question?”