The pro-Trump protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, doubled the “domestic violent extremism” cases handled by federal law enforcement and prompted an expansion of tough anti-terrorism prison rules for those convicted, according to a new audit.
A Justice Department inspector general report issued Tuesday said the effort by protesters to stop Congress’s approval of the 2020 election results jumped the cases of domestic extremism “twofold.”
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On average, the Justice Department opens about 2,300 cases a year, the audit said. After the Capitol riots, that increased to 5,780 in fiscal 2021.
The Justice Department and FBI said they are handling about 1,000 Jan. 6 cases and could add another 1,000 to that in what amounts to a sweeping dragnet of anybody at the Capitol during the riots.
The audit said the protests have led to enhanced efforts to prosecute those involved, which has happened, and boosted the sentencing penalties that also led to harsher prison conditions.
However, the audit said the department tries to differentiate between domestic terrorism and free speech, a point critics claim they have ignored.
“Following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, DOJ reported that it has undertaken enhanced efforts to investigate and prosecute acts of violence and domestic terrorism, while continuing to recognize the boundary between extremist viewpoints, which may involve constitutionally protected activity under the First Amendment, and true threats of violence, which are not protected activity,” the audit said.
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The Justice Department has upgraded sentencing through the “terrorism enhancement” provisions OK’d after the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in high-profile cases but can in virtually all of the Jan. 6 cases, the audit said. However, some judges have balked at it.
Still, when convicted under the enhanced terrorism rules that virtually all Capitol protest cases face, the audit said prisoners will face harsher rules and conditions.
The audit said, “If convicted and sentenced, domestic violent extremism-related subjects may experience enhanced restrictions while in the custody of the [federal Bureau of Prisons]. BOP policy requires that all inmates with an identified terrorism nexus be placed on comprehensive required monitoring, which means that their emails, telephone calls, and written communications should be reviewed by staff.”
