Prosecutors Weigh Pro-Trump Mob’s Ideology in Sedition Probe
- After more than 150 arrests, more serious charges may come
- Prosecutors are digging for evidence with warrants, informants
Demonstrators steal a Metropolitan Police riot shield while attempting to enter the U.S. Capitol building during a protest in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Photographer: Eric Lee/BloombergProsecutors probing the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are building complex conspiracy cases that take aim at far-right activists, zeroing in on the motives and ideologies of the extremist groups that participated in the siege.
After arresting more than 150 Donald Trump rioters for relatively minor offenses like trespassing and disorderly conduct, law-enforcement officials said on Tuesday they are poised to file more serious charges under the rarely used federal sedition statute. That would raise the stakes of the investigation for both prosecutors and accused rioters: The law doesn’t lend itself to easy convictions, but it carries a prison sentence of as long as 20 years.