The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday that some people who were convicted of the most serious crimes in connection to the deadly U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, should be allowed to enter Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Capitol building without any restrictions.
Newsweek has reached out to the DOJ and the White House for comment via email on Friday.
Edward Martin, the acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., also said in a statement that these defendants should be treated the same as former President Joe Biden‘s younger brother, Jim, and retired U.S. General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
However, neither Jim Biden nor Milley have been charged with or convicted of any crimes, but Biden pardoned his brother and the former general, as well as several other family members and former officials, out of fear that they would be politically targeted by the Trump administration.
Milley was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trump’s first presidency and has since said Trump is a fascist and a “wannabe dictator.”
Jose Luis Magana/AP
The Context
President Donald Trump scuttled years of prosecutorial legwork when he issued sweeping pardons to virtually all the U.S. Capitol riot defendants within hours of taking office and commuted the sentences of the remaining 14.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday ordered that eight of the 14 defendants who had their sentences commuted cannot travel to Washington, D.C. or enter the U.S. Capitol without court permission.
The defendants include Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers who was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the riot, and Kelly Meggs, one of Rhodes’ top deputies who was sentenced to 12 years. The other defendants are Oath Keepers Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel and Joseph Hackett.
What To Know
The DOJ opposed Mehta’s order, saying the defendants…
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