No End in Sight as Jan. 6 Prosecutions Near the 1,000-Case Milestone, DOJ Reports

Police fire munitions into a crowd on the west side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested for alleged crimes at the Capitol. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) historic, sweeping effort to arrest and prosecute supporters of former President Donald Trump for alleged crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is nearing the 1,000-case milestone.

As the Jan. 6 prosecution effort enters its third year, the pace of FBI arrests hasn’t lessened, with six so far in February and 985 since Jan. 7, 2021.

Charges have included obstructing an officer during civil disorder, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

So far in 2023, the DOJ has reported 20 Jan. 6, 2021-related arrests in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia.

Richard "Bigo" Barnett (2nd L) arrives at the U.S. Courthouse on Jan. 10, 2023, for jury selection in his trial on eight Jan. 6, 2021, charges. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The FBI has photographs of more than 260 people it wants to identify and arrest for violent actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the DOJ said in a Feb. 6 report.

“The investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the attack continues to move forward at an unprecedented speed and scale,” the DOJ said in a statement on its website.

“The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane.”

According to the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, the top 10 states for Jan. 6, 2021, arrests are Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, California, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland.

Nearly 320 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees—including 105 individuals charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon, or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, the DOJ reported.

About half of those charged have pleaded guilty to various federal charges, including 125 for felonies and 375 for misdemeanors. Fifty-five of the felony guilty pleas were for assaulting law enforcement officers, the report said.

Fifty-two defendants were found guilty at contested trials in U.S. District Court in Washington or in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Another 14 were convicted based on a stipulated set of facts.

Nearly 400 people have been sentenced so far, including 220 defendants sent to jail, prison, or halfway houses. About one-quarter of those were sentenced to a period of home detention, according to the DOJ report.