Capitol Breach Caused Nearly $1.5 Million in Damage: Prosecutors

Prosecutors expect to charge over 550 people for the Jan. 6 breach

Capitol police officer looks out of a broken window as a crowd attempts to breach the U.S. Capitol, in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 led to nearly $1.5 million in damage to the building, prosecutors said in one filing, as they said in a separate case they expect to ultimately charge more than 550 people in the incident.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky disclosed the damage estimate in a plea agreement last week in the case of Paul Hodgkins, who has agreed to plead guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.

“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,” Sedky wrote.

Hodgkins agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Treasury Department.

The Architect of the Capitol, Sedky, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) didn’t respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment on the damage estimate.

A spokeswoman for the architect told The Washington Post that the architect’s office gave assessments of the damage to the DOJ, which used the information to calculate how much each defendant should pay.

Another prosecutor, meanwhile, disclosed that government officials expect that more than 550 people will ultimately be charged for participating in the breach.

“The investigation and prosecution of these crimes will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence. Over 450 individuals have been charged. The investigation continues and the government expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged,” Amanda Jawad, an assistant U.S. attorney, wrote in a court filing.

Damage is seen inside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington early on Jan. 7, 2021. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

“While most of the cases have been brought against individual defendants, the government is also investigating conspiratorial activity that occurred prior to and on January 6, 2021,” she added.

Charges against alleged Capitol breach participants include engaging in violent conduct inside the building, destruction of government property, and assaults on federal and local police officers. Prosecutors have moved to drop at least one case because they found the defendant hadn’t actually entered the Capitol.

Investigators have executed more than 900 search warrants in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and evidence accumulated in the broad probe includes more than 15,000 of surveillance and body camera footage, approximately 1,600 electronic devices, and over 80,000 reports and 93,000 attachments related to law enforcement interviews of suspects and witnesses and other investigative steps.

Because the data in the investigations is growing so large, and to comply with provisions outlined in previous court cases such as Brady v. Maryland, the government is working with the Federal Public Defender to develop a plan to handle, track, process, review, and produce discovery across the breach cases.

“Such productions have begun and will also be supplemented on an on-going basis. In the longer term, the plan will include a system for storing, organizing, searching, producing and/or making available voluminous materials such as those described above in a manner that is workable for both the government and hundreds of defendants,” Jawad wrote. “This latter portion of the plan will require more time to develop and implement, including further consultation with the Federal Public Defender.”