*The instant the first brick was tossed at the Capitol building by the white, pro-Trump Capitol terrorists the question was repeatedly asked whether federal prosecutors will really toss the book at them. Oh yes, the prosecutors talk tough, and saber rattle the lawbreakers with promises of FBI knocks on their doors and an array of hard-nosed charges against them.
This looks and sounds good but then there is Jenna Ryan, the Texas realtor who jetted into the Capitol in a private jet, brazenly bragged about storming the Capitol building, replete with Facebook and Instagram poses with the mob. The charge against her: disorderly conduct and unlawful entry.
Then there is the even outrageous case of Richard Barnett, the guy caught in the photo with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, who carried a stun gun, and stole government property. The hardnosed charges against him: unlawful entry and disorderly conduct. The bail: $5,000 and a house arrest. If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, he was described by a federal judge as a hard-working law-abiding citizen. Painting Barnett as a basically good guy was too much for one judge. He revoked his bail, probably sensing a monumental public relations horror.
By now the pattern in charging the Capitol terrorists is clear. For the most part, the charges against them are disorderly conduct, unlawful entry, and curfew violations. These are charges that could easily be prosecuted as misdemeanors. Only in a few other cases, have there been tougher add on charges.
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The disorderly conduct and unlawful entry charges can hardly be called sending the hard message federal prosecutors solemnly swear to send. Even with promises of more to come, it is still unconvincing.
It is not necessary to cite the toss the book at em’, hardline treatment of Black Lives Matter protestors in demonstrations, some of whom faced charges that carried life sentences, to make the obvious point about the blatant racial double standard in their treatment. Just measure the charges federal prosecutors are slapping on the Capitol terrorists against their loud assurances of swift and harsh punishment of them.
Trump set the template last June supposedly for the punishment of those who damage federal property and incite mob violence against the feds.
With his usual Trumpian tough talk law and order rhetoric, and much fanfare, he signed an executive order that mandates prison sentences up to ten years on anyone damaging federal property. Trump had only one group in mind when he penned the executive order. That is the Black Lives Matter protesters or as he indelicately put it “agitators who have traveled across State lines to promote their own violent agenda.”
Trump’s bogus law and order, tough talk, and intent notwithstanding, the harsh punishment law is on the books. It can easily be applied to anyone, not named a Black Lives Matter protester.
This is only the start for tougher punishment of the Capitol terrorists. There is the long-standing statute imposing the toughest punishment for “seditious conspiracy.” The telling line in the statute is “to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States” and or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States.” This obviously is a major federal felony and so is the punishment up to twenty years imprisonment.
There is much talk that the Capitol terrorist’s actions certainly fit the definition of “seditious conspiracy” and much more. Yet, at least in the first wave of arrests and charges, not one terrorist was charged under that statute. A charge here sends the message that federal prosecutors proclaimed they intend to send that the Capitol action is an outright rebellion and those who engaged in that rebellion will be punished accordingly.
There’s more. Barnett’s hand slap initial charge and bail, though countermanded by another federal judge, doesn’t tell much about what his legal fate will ultimately be. After, the media and public attention to Capitol terrorism is long over these questions remain. Will there be a trial, a plea bargain, a dismissal of some of the charges, if there is a trial and a conviction will he actually get some serious prison time?
Barnett is more than just a name, and a defendant, he’s in a real sense emblematic of how the cases against many if not all of the hundreds of persons the feds say will be prosecuted for the Capitol terror attack are eventually disposed of.
Prosecutors continually assure that the charges are just the beginning, not the end of their purported crackdown on the terrorists. Time will tell just how true this is. One thing, though, that time has proven is that when it comes to getting after white terrorists who wreak mayhem, havoc and even murder in the name of their beliefs, the jury is always way out on how they will be handled.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His latest book is Why Black Lives Do Matter (Middle Passage Press). He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network
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