The Tyrannical Treatment of Jan. 6 Prisoners Is a Threat to Our Democracy

The Tyrannical Treatment of Jan. 6 Prisoners Is a Threat to Our Democracy
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) (2nd L) speaks as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) (R), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) (3rd L) and Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) (L) listen during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 29, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Commentary

Since the founding of this great nation, a God-blessed America has offered the hope of liberty to the world. In more recent years, we have come to realize that should our experiment in self-governance fail, there would be no other nation on Earth that could fill the void left in its wake as the defender of such freedom.

Never before had any nation been founded to safeguard the rights of the individual, which changed the course of human history from brute force dictating propriety to recognition that every individual has value. Our Declaration of Independence enshrined the truth that individual rights come from the hand of our Creator, acknowledging them to be established by the Almighty and therefore not defined by the brute force realm of human power.

It took a Civil War and civil rights movement for America to grow into the profound commitments of its Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Declaration has stood the test of time to ensure liberty for all in our nation and as the beacon of hope for the rest of the world. Our nation has continued to move to right the wrongs of fallible human beings and build upon the past.

We were getting exceedingly close.

Under Biden’s rule, for the first time in our history, normalizing the denial of civil rights and civil liberties based on ideology, not wrongdoing, is presented as a noble cause. Equal justice under the law for the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken a giant leap backward in embracing the medieval notion of might makes right in glorifying the denial of civil rights for political opponents. It is shameful and dangerous.

For months, elected officials representing the citizens of this country have been seeking truthful, non-politicized answers from the government about the events that unfolded on Jan. 6. We have been continually stonewalled, belittled, ignored, and even demonized by the DOJ, leadership at the Capitol Police, and the Bureau of Prisons. They each ignore requests and questions, refusing to allow oversight of their actions that gives every appearance of a cover-up of wrongdoing.

Think of the legal doctrine of spoliation. In court, if one party holds evidence and destroys it or refuses to produce it, the judge may instruct the jury to infer that the evidence is completely against the party hiding it. This is exactly what they are doing.

Should ideology and abuse of power continue to drive this administration’s actions, the Rule of Law will cease to exist. The only safeguard against these obvious improprieties is transparency. Until recent times, our country protected our individual freedoms by dragging every ugly wart out into the light of day to examine the actions of our government. We gave deference to individual rights. By its actions, the Biden administration is shredding the foundations of our legal system and the rights of the people’s representatives to protect them from government abuse.

A number of Jan. 6 prisoners were held behind bars for months without ever being charged with a crime, and some without ever seeing evidence for or against them. Some have already accepted plea deals despite not having access to all of the evidence involving their cases, which is a civil rights violation and potential Brady violation. There also have been reports of heinous mental and physical abuses against these prisoners at the D.C. Central Detention Facility, although a recently released prisoner said things got better after four members of Congress attempted to tour the facility.

Now, imagine the outrage from Democrats and their accomplices in the media had Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters been prosecuted with a fraction of the vigor with which the DOJ has gone after the Jan. 6 defendants. Undoubtedly, there would be leftists, including elected officials, chomping at the bit to call on their supporters to donate funds to assist these terrorists, just as our now-vice president did last year.

For reference, the riots in the summer of 2020 were reported, based on insurance claims, to be the most destructive riots in U.S. history.

Those riotous individuals terrorized American cities for months, set fires to federal and law enforcement buildings, and destroyed the livelihoods of innocent Americans. More than 2,000 law enforcement officers were injured during these “mostly peaceful” protests. These groups even attempted to breach the White House in May 2020, creating a threat so serious that Secret Service agents were forced to rush then-President Donald Trump into a secure bunker.

Of course, most of them will never face a day of judgment in court because, despite all of their criminal and terroristic actions, these rioters didn’t express their support for Trump. In the mind of their Democrat apologists, including quite a number of Biden administration officials, they are absolved no matter the statutory offenses because they worship at the altar of wokeness with the heartfelt belief that America is evil and must endlessly be punished for its transgressions.

The apparent political revenge and retaliation against some of the Jan. 6 detainees by the Biden administration’s DOJ should chill every American to their core. Even the way many were arrested is more reminiscent of Gestapo tactics, than those of a once-admired FBI. Those on the left have made one thing perfectly clear: If you are a Trump supporter facing prosecution, or even Donald Trump himself, you are guilty until proven innocent and are undeserving of the basic civil rights that all other Americans are supposed to be afforded under the Constitution.

It appears that at least some of those treated so vilely for suspected involvement in the Jan. 6 events are political prisoners of the U.S. government. If we as a country continue to allow this abuse of power to unfold and turn this nation into a banana republic, there is nowhere left in the world to take refuge for lovers of liberty and freedom.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Louis Buller Gohmert Jr. has been a U.S. representative from Texas's 1st congressional district since 2005. Gohmert is a former jurist and was part of the Tea Party movement.
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