Donald Trump, in the crosshairs of justice on the third anniversary of the assault on the Capitol

Members of far-right groups. Former police officers. An Olympic gold medal swimmer. And active duty Marines. They are among the hundreds of people convicted in these three years for the violent assault on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.

That day, a stunned nation watched on television as an attempted coup in the United States promoted by Trumpist fanatics unfolded. Those images will be repeated in multitudes this Saturday on the occasion of the anniversary. And many will look to justice.

Federal court in Washington is still flooded with lawsuitsplea hearings and sentences stemming from what has become the largest criminal investigation in the country’s history.

The search for suspects is far from over. “We cannot replace votes and deliberations with violence and intimidation,” Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Thursday.

Authorities are still working to identify him more than 80 people wanted for violence at the Capitol and find out who planted homemade bombs in front of the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees the day before the attack on the Parliament building. And they continue to make new arrests.

The cases are taking place in the same courthouse where Donald Trump will stand trial in March in the case accusing the former president of conspiring to reverse his 2020 election defeat. The storming of the Capitol was aimed at preventing the parliamentary enshrinement of Joe Biden.

The former president, accused of insurrection

That day, in the morning, a large group of ultranationalist demonstrators They gathered in a public park to listen to speeches by the outgoing president and his son Donald Trump Jr.

The president repeated his persistent narrative that he had won the November election against the Democrat Biden, but the result was stolen from him. He never provided evidence, not even in that speech in which he encouraged his fans to whom he “asked to fight like demons because otherwise they will not have a homeland”. And he encouraged them to move.

“I know everyone here will soon march to the Capitol to make their voices heard in a peaceful and patriotic way. “Today we will see whether Republicans will stand firm for the integrity of our elections,” he added.

That was the only time he mentioned the word “peacefully.” By contrast, she used the word “fight” 14 times, the researchers said. They accuse him of insurrection.

Tension and four deaths

The protesters, who Trump described as “patriots,” eventually entered the building, breached security and eventually occupied the evacuated Senate chamber. A violent fight broke out. In those accidents A protester was shot by police inside the building and died. Three other militants also died from gunshot wounds.

The disaster was huge and is considered the first concrete coup attempt in the United States with Trump’s intention to maintain power. It was his vice president, Mike Pence, who managed to save the Republic and defend Biden’s legitimate victory on the spot, a gesture that the New York tycoon never forgave him: “He didn’t do what he should have done”, he declared. he said.

More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes during riots, ranging from minor crimes such as trespassing to serious crimes such as assault on police officers and seditious conspiracy. Only two defendants were acquitted of all charges.

Around 750 people were convicted and nearly two-thirds have spent some time behind bars. Prison sentences range from a few days of intermittent confinement to 22 years. The longest sentence was given to Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the ultranationalist Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, in what prosecutors described as a plot to prevent Biden’s inauguration.

Many rioters have already been released from prison after serving their sentences, including some accused of violent acts.

Defense lawyers and prosecutors are closely monitoring the situation a case that will soon move to the Supreme Court. It is the testimony of one of these fans accused of obstruction. It’s important because it’s the same charge brought against Trump by special prosecutor Jack Smith.

Several defendants also fled after being charged, including a member of the Florida Proud Boys who disappeared while under house arrest.

The FBI is still looking for some defendants who have been on the run for months, including a pair of brothers originally from that state. There is another leader of these groups, Evan Neumann, who simply fled the country in December 2021 and is believed to be living in Belarus, a country allied with Vladimir Putin, the Russian autocrat with a fluid relationship with Trump.

Fountain: The associated press