Dozens of members of the pro-Trump mob who attacked the U.S. Capitol have now been charged for the seige on Wednesday which left five dead. Many more will be charged in the coming weeks, according to acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin, who told NPR on Sunday that “hundreds” more could face criminal charges, ranging from destruction of federal property to murder.
The federal charges began on Friday, when the Department of Justice announced it had charged 13 people involved in the attack. Two of the insurrectionists are accused of illegal possession of weapons, including one man who is said to have brought 11 Molotov cocktails to Capitol Hill. The rest were hit with a variety of charges alleging they unlawfully entered the Capitol grounds and assaulted law-enforcement officers. (At least 40 others have been arrested and charged in D.C. court already on similar charges.) Among them are Richard Bennett of Arkansas, who was infamously photographed seated with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk. Bennett was taken into custody, as was Lonnie Coffman of Alabama, who feds say brought the Molotovs and two firearms.
West Virginia lawmaker Derek Evans, a Republican, was also charged, according to the AP and taken into custody by FBI agents at his home. On Saturday, Evans submitted a letter of resignation to the state’s Governor Jim Justice.
Other insurrectionists seen in widely-distributed photos this week were arrested over the weekend. On Saturday, the Department of Justice announced that Jacob Anthony Chansley, the Arizona man who entered the Capitol shirtless and wearing a fur headdress with horns, was arrested on charges of “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds on Saturday.”
In the same statement, the DOJ announced that Adam Johnson — the man from Florida seen stealing with Nancy Pelosi’s lectern — is in custody and has been charged with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; one count of theft of government property; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
Doug Jensen, the Iowa man who allegedly led the push toward the Senate chamber, was arrested by the FBI and is facing five federal charges, including trespassing and disorderly conduct.
On Sunday, the FBI arrested Eric Gavelek Munchel, the 30-year-old Tennessee man photographed carrying zip ties inside the Senate chamber. He is facing a federal charge of “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority” and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In the same announcement, the Department of Justice stated it had arrested another man, Larry Rendell Brock of Texas, on the same charges. Brock also allegedly entered the Capitol in tactical gear with flex cuff restraints.
The search for suspects in the Capitol riot continues, with the FBI receiving over 40,000 digital media tips in the first four days after the attack. “Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock at the door, if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” said Steven D’antuono, the No. 2 in the FBI’s Washington Field Office, according to Politico. “We are sparing no expense or personnel or effort to root those perpetrators out and find them.” The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the suspect who planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties.
Military and law enforcement investigators are also turning the focus on their own ranks. On Sunday, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told Rep. Jason Crow that at least 25 domestic terrorism cases have been opened into military personnel allegedly on the scene on Wednesday. Police departments in Virginia, Washington, and Pennsylvania have begun investigations into their own officers who traveled to D.C. for the rally.
Federal investigators are also reportedly investigating the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick as murder. Four members of the mob also died in the attack, including a 35-year-old Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol police officer when she climbed through a window leading to an entryway outside of the House chamber.
This post has been updated throughout.
