Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, will mark 24 months since the attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of affirming the presidential election results.
Under the continued leadership of the Justice Department, 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.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland made the following statement:
“Two years ago, the United States Capitol was attacked as lawmakers met to affirm the results of a presidential election. Perpetrators attacked police officers, targeted and assaulted members of the media, and interfered with a fundamental element of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
“Since then, countless agents, investigators, prosecutors, analysts, and others across the Justice Department have participated in one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history. I am extremely grateful for the dedication, professionalism, and integrity with which they have done this work. This investigation has resulted in the arrest of more than 950 defendants for their alleged roles in the attack. We have secured convictions for a wide range of criminal conduct on January 6 as well as in the days and weeks leading up to the attack. Our work is far from over.
“We will never forget the sacrifice of the law enforcement officers who defended the members of Congress and others inside the Capitol that day. And we will never forget the five officers who responded selflessly on January 6 and who have since lost their lives: Officer Brian Sicknick, Officer Howard Liebengood, Officer Jeffrey Smith, Officer Gunther Hashida, and Officer Kyle DeFreytag.
“The Justice Department remains committed to honoring them. We remain committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for the January 6 assault on our democracy. And we remain committed to doing everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again.”
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Based on the public court documents, below is a snapshot of the investigation as of Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. Complete versions of most of the public court documents used to compile these statistics are available on the Capitol Breach Investigation Resource Page at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases.
Arrests made: More than 950 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (This includes those charged in both District and Superior Court).
Criminal charges:
- More than 284 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including approximately 99 individuals who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
- Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted Jan. 6 at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.
- Approximately 11 individuals have been arrested on a series of charges that relate to assaulting a member of the media, or destroying their equipment, on January 6.
- Approximately 860 defendants have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds. Of those, 91 defendants have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
- Approximately 59 defendants have been charged with destruction of government property, and approximately 36 defendants have been charged with theft of government property.
- More than 295 defendants have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so.
- Approximately 50 defendants have been charged with conspiracy, either: (a) conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, (b) conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder, (c) conspiracy to injure an officer, (d) seditious conspiracy, or (e) some combination of the four.
Pleas:
- Approximately 484 individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing.
- Approximately 119 have pleaded guilty to felonies. Another 364 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
- A total of 52 of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded to federal charges of assaulting law enforcement officers. An additional 22 individuals have pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. Of these 74 defendants, 41 have now been sentenced to prison terms of up to 90 months.
- Four of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy.
Trials:
- 40 individuals have been found guilty at contested trials, including three who were found guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Another 10 individuals have been convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts. 16 of these 50 defendants were found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, a felony, including one who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sentencings:
- Approximately 351 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on January 6. Approximately 192 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. Approximately 87 defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention, including approximately 14 who also were sentenced to a period of incarceration.
Public Assistance:
- Citizens from around the country have provided invaluable assistance in identifying individuals in connection with the January 6 attack. The FBI continues to seek the public’s help in identifying approximately 350 individuals believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds, including over 250 who assaulted police officers.
- Additionally, the FBI currently has 14 videos of suspects wanted for violent assaults on federal officers and one video of two suspects wanted for assaults on members of the media on Jan. 6 and is seeking the public’s help to identify them.
- Some of the violent offenders about whom the FBI is seeking public tips to identify and locate Evan Neumann, Jonathan Daniel Pollock, AFOs #91, #292, #371, and #383. AFO #91 uses what appears to be a stick to strike multiple officers numerous times while in the doorway of the Lower West Terrace, commonly referred to as the tunnel. AFOs #292, #371, and #383 are all shown on video charging at and assaulting officers, and they appear to grab and attempt to take possession of the officers’ batons.
- For images and video of the attackers, please visit https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence. Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.