Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the January 6 riot over the 2020 presidential results. If you were to ask the Democrats, the supposed threat to our democracy led by “Ultra MAGA Republicans” is still ongoing.
That kind of rhetoric is blatantly untrue and deployed to smear millions of people who dare go against the Democratic agenda.
Still, there is at least one overlooked continuous threat to American democracy stemming from that day — one that never seems to capture the attention of Legacy Media nor the representatives most outspoken about the Capitol riot.
Over the past 24 months, dozens — if not hundreds — of Americans have been mistreated by the U.S. judicial legal system, according to attorneys and concerned citizens. This alleged abuse ranges from “cruel and unusual punishment” via unnecessary solitary confinement measures, other concerns over conditions in various jails, and worries over lack of due process.
Since January 6, 2021, more than 950 Americans have been arrested over actions ranging from parading through the Capitol to more serious charges relating to assault and other forms of violence. Thanks to the recently passed omnibus bill, the Department of Justice has the funds to continue the investigation for the foreseeable future.
That means that inappropriate treatment of fellow Americans will likely increase as more are wrangled in by authorities.
To be clear, those who abandoned the idea of peaceful protest that day should be condemned entirely and rightly have been from people across the political spectrum. Based on mountains of video evidence, it is obvious some went to the Capitol on January 6 intent on causing mayhem with ill regard for their fellow citizens. Regardless, justice must be served through the legal system.
Still, according to testimony and footage, others charged with crimes wrongly believed they were welcomed into the building.
In the case of a man named Matthew Martin, for example, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden acquitted him of four charges after the judge concluded that Martin felt he was allowed in because U.S. Capitol police let him into the building.
During the trial, which Martin agreed to hold without a jury, McFadden concluded that the New Mexico man’s defense was “largely credible” and it wasn’t unreasonable for him to believe that police officers let him and dozens more into the Rotunda as they stood by. McFadden added that his actions that day were “about as minimal and non-serious” as they got.
So far, Martin has been the only person acquitted.
How is it that nearly 1,000 individuals have been charged — yet only one man has been found innocent?
Then there’s the so-called face of the “insurrection” — the so-called “QAnon shaman,” Jacob Chansley.
Chansley was not accused of attacking anyone that day, according to CNN. Yet for some reason, the U.S. government held him in jail pre-trial because of potential “future violence.”
For more than 300 days, Chansley languished in solitary confinement, according to reporter Julie Kelly.
“He is a man with mental health vulnerability who has, for eight months, been in what any doctor is the worst thing you can possibly have done to you if you have a personality disorder, which is be placed in solitary confinement,” his defense attorney Al Watkins argued at one point during his trial.
Chansley was ultimately sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role on January 6.
According to Kelly, who has investigated January 6 thoroughly, hundreds of Americans are still being held in jail.
The feds’ rationale is that, according to Kelly in one column, “the events of January 6 were uniquely horrific and anyone who participated poses a threat to the country.”
Yet it should be noted that more than 200 individuals who allegedly caused similar mayhem during former President Donald J. Trump’s day in 2017 had a very different experience with the U.S. government. They had their charges dropped entirely.
What did that day look like? Here’s a brief recap:
Footage from DC on the day of Trump's inauguration.
This happened all around the country. For four years.
Remember this when Joe Biden calls MAGA supporters terrorists tonight. pic.twitter.com/66CME7Lf4R
— MAZE (@mazemoore) September 1, 2022
For those who think that only Right-leaning pundits are concerned about the rights of these men and women in jail, readers should remember that in April 2021, even Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke out against the treatment of some of those arrested.
“Solitary confinement is a form of punishment that is cruel and psychologically damaging,” Warren said at the time. “And we’re talking about people who haven’t been convicted of anything yet.”
If those statements helped change things, it isn’t very clear to what extent. For example, a January 6 arrestee named Edward Jacob Lang was taken by authorities to a D.C. jail on January 16, 2021.
In January 2022, Lang told The Daily Wire that he had “spent 200 days in solitary confinement, with 23 hours a day alone in a cell.”
After that interview, Lang was transferred to a jail in Alexandria, Virginia, where he faced similar treatment.
In June 2022, Lang told The Washington Times that he had spent 70 days in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day in an Alexandria, Virginia jail.
“I have been informed by Chief [Deputy Sherriff Shelbert] Williams that because of my political affiliations, I have to remain in solitary confinement,” Lang alleged in one letter to the DOJ.
It should be noted that Lang has been accused of some of the worst violence from January.
Yet just because he may be accused of egregious behavior does not mean he shouldn’t be afforded his rights.
Neither should any of the other 949 — and counting — January 6 suspects.
Where’s the outrage from our elected leaders?
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.