More than 725 people have been arrested in all 50 states on federal charges stemming from violence that erupted at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, leading some 165 people to plead guilty—mostly to misdemeanor charges—the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday in its year-end summary.
“Under the continued leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the attack continues to move forward at an unprecedented speed and scale,” the DOJ said in a statement. “The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on Jan. 6, 2021 has not, and will not, wane.”
The approximately 725 arrests have led 145 defendants to plead guilty to misdemeanors, while 20 pleaded guilty to felonies. Six of the felony guilty pleas involved assaults on law enforcement, the report said.
More than 225 people were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law-enforcement officers or other employees. About a third of those cases involve charges of using a deadly or dangerous weapon, the DOJ said. Some 140 police officers were assaulted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including 80 from U.S. Capitol Police and 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.
Nearly 90 percent of those arrested were charged at least in part with entering or remaining in restricted federal buildings or grounds. Seventy-five defendants were charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
More than 45 defendants were charged with destruction of government property during the rioting, and “over 30” were charged with theft of government property, the report said.
At least 275 people were charged with obstructing or attempting to obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding. Those charges were brought because the U.S. House and Senate were in session to certify electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election when violence broke out. Lawmakers were evacuated and work was suspended during the worst violence, although the session continued after 8 p.m. on Jan. 6.
Some 40 people were charged with conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during civil disorder, conspiracy to injure an officer, or some combination of those charges, the report noted.
Seventy federal defendants have been sentenced for their actions on Jan. 6, including 31 who received jail or prison time. Eighteen people were sentenced to home detention. The balance of those sentenced were not incarcerated, the report said.
Ten arrests were made for assaults on members of the news media or destruction of their equipment on Jan. 6, the DOJ said.
The FBI still asks the public’s help to identify more than 350 people believed to have committed violent acts at the Capitol, including more than 250 who assaulted police officers, the DOJ report said.
