The government said earlier this week as the two-year anniversary of the riot in Washington, D.C., neared that it continues to investigate losses that resulted from the Jan. 6, 2021, breach, including damage to Capitol building and grounds.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland called the investigation one of the largest, most complex and most resource-intensive in the department’s history
“We will never forget the sacrifice of the law enforcement officers who defended the members of Congress and others inside the Capitol that day," he said. "And we will never forget the five officers who responded selflessly on Jan. 6 and who have since lost their lives.”
Those officers were Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag.
Garland said the Justice Department remains dedicated to honoring them and "we remain committed to doing everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again.”
People are also reading…
Law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 were honored Tuesday with Congressional Gold Medals nearly two years after they fought supporters of then-President Donald Trump in a brutal and bloody attack.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the "heroes" as she opened the ceremony in the the stately Capitol Rotunda, which was overrun that day when Trump supporters roamed the halls trying to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election.In bestowing Congress' highest honor, Pelosi praised the heroes for "courageously answering the call to defend our democracy in one of the nation's darkest hours."To recognize the hundreds of officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the medals will be placed in four locations at U.S. Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution. President Joe Biden said when he signed the legislation last year that a medal will be placed at the Smithsonian museum "so all visitors can understand what happened that day."The ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda comes as Democrats, just weeks away from losing their House majority, race to finish a nearly 18-month investigation of the insurrection. Democrats and two Republicans conducting the probe have vowed to uncover the details of the attack, which came as Trump tried to overturn his election defeat and encouraged his supporters to "fight like hell" in a rally just before the congressional certification.SEE MORE: Capitol Police Officers Relive Details of January 6 InsurrectionAwarding the medals is among Pelosi's last ceremonial acts as she prepares to step down from leadership. When the bill passed the House more than a year ago, she said the law enforcement officers from across the city defended the Capitol because they were "the type of Americans who heard the call to serve and answered it, putting country above self.""They enabled us to return to the Capitol," and certify Biden's presidency, she said then, "to that podium that night to show the world that our democracy had prevailed and that it had succeeded because of them."Dozens of the officers who fought off the rioters sustained serious injuries. As the mob of Trump's supporters pushed past them and into the Capitol, police were beaten with American flags and their own guns, dragged down stairs, sprayed with chemicals and trampled and crushed by the crowd. Officers suffered physical wounds, including brain injuries and other lifelong effects, and many struggled to work afterward because they were so traumatized.Four officers who testified at a House hearing last year spoke openly about the lasting mental and physical scars, and some detailed near-death experiences.Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges described foaming at the mouth, bleeding and screaming as the rioters tried to gouge out his eye and crush him between two heavy doors. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who rushed to the scene, said he was "grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country." Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said a large group of people shouted the N-word at him as he was trying to keep them from breaching the House chamber.At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that immediately followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after one of the rioters sprayed him with a chemical. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes.Several months after the attack, in August 2021, the Metropolitan Police announced that two more of their officers who had responded to the insurrection had died by suicide. The circumstances that led to their deaths were unknown.SEE MORE: A Timeline Of What Happened On Jan. 6The June 2021 House vote to award the medals won widespread support from both parties. But 21 House Republicans voted against it lawmakers who had downplayed the violence and stayed loyal to Trump. The Senate passed the legislation by voice vote, with no Republican objections.Pelosi, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell attended the ceremony and awarded medals. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee also attended.The Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow, has been handed out by the legislative branch since 1776. Previous recipients include George Washington, Sir Winston Churchill, Bob Hope and Robert Frost. In recent years, Congress has awarded the medals to former New Orleans Saints player Steve
The following information about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection was released Jan. 4 by the U.S. Department of Justice:
- Losses are about $2,734,783. That amount also includes, among other things, costs borne by the U.S. Capitol Police.
- More than 950 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- Under the leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the attack continues.
Criminal charges
- More than 284 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including about 99 people who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
- Nearly 140 police officers were assaulted Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.
- About 11 people have been arrested on charges that relate to assaulting a member of the media, or destroying their equipment, on Jan. 6, 2021.
- There have been about 860 defendants charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds. Of those, 91 defendants have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
- Fifty-nine defendants have been charged with destruction of government property, and 36 defendants have been charged with theft of government property.
- More than 295 people have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so.
- Nearly 50 people have been charged with conspiracy, either: conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder, conspiracy to injure an officer, seditious conspiracy, or some combination of the four.
Pleas
- Nearly 484 people have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing.
- About 119 have pleaded guilty to felonies. Another 364 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
- Fifty-two of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded to federal charges of assaulting law enforcement officers. An additional 22 individuals have pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. Of these 74 defendants, 41 have now been sentenced to prison terms of up to 90 months.
- Four of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy.
Trials
- Forty people have been found guilty at contested trials, including three who were found guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
- Another 10 people have been convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts.
- Sixteen of these 50 defendants were found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, a felony, including one who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Sentencings
- Nearly 351 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6, 2021.
- About 192 have been sentenced to incarceration.
- Nearly 87 have been sentenced to home detention, including 14 sentenced to a period of incarceration.
Public Assistance
People nationwide have provided assistance in identifying people in connection with the attack. The FBI continues to seek the public’s help in identifying about 350 people believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds, including over 250 who assaulted police officers.
This wanted poster released by the FBI shows Evan Neumann, a former San Francisco Bay Area resident facing federal criminal charges from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, who has been granted asylum in Belarus, the former Soviet nation's state media reported Tuesday, March 23, 2022. (FBI via AP)
The FBI released 14 videos of suspects wanted for violent assaults on federal officers and one video of two suspects wanted for assaults on members of the media on Jan. 6 and is seeking the public’s help to identify them.
Some of the violent offenders about whom the FBI is seeking public tips to identify or locate are Evan Neumann and Jonathan Daniel Pollock, AFOs #91, #292, #371, and #383. AFO #91 uses what appears to be a stick to strike multiple officers numerous times while in the doorway of the Lower West Terrace, commonly referred to as the tunnel. AFOs #292, #371, and #383 are all shown on video charging at and assaulting officers, and they appear to grab and attempt to take possession of the officers’ batons.
For images and video of the attackers, visit https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence. Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
