For all the talk about insurrection, sedition, and overthrowing the government in an attempt to keep Donald Trump in the White House, the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was just what really seemed – an unruly mob of misfits whose behavior tragically got one of their own killed by police.
Reuters, in an exclusive based on comments by four current and former law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation, reported on Friday, “The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result.”
“Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump,” the sources told Reuters.
In addition, Reuters was told that Trump himself did not direct events that day.
“Trump made an incendiary speech at a nearby rally shortly before the riot, repeating false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and urging supporters to march on the Capitol to pressure lawmakers to reject Biden’s victory,” Reuters pointed out.
“But the FBI has so far found no evidence that he or people directly around him were involved in organizing the violence, according to the four current and former law enforcement officials.”
Moreover, Reuters added, “one source said there has been little, if any, recent discussion by senior Justice Department officials of filing charges such as ‘seditious conspiracy’ to accuse defendants of trying to overthrow the government. They have also opted not to bring racketeering charges, often used against organized criminal gangs.”
“Prosecutors have also not brought any charges alleging that any individual or group played a central role in organizing or leading the riot. Law-enforcement sources told Reuters no such charges appeared to be pending,” the article added.
“Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases,” a former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters. “Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages.”
Reuters noted that Stone and Jones were both involved in pro-Trump events on Jan. 5, the day before the riot.
“FBI investigators did find that cells of protesters, including followers of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups, had aimed to break into the Capitol,” Reuters reported. “But they found no evidence that the groups had serious plans about what to do if they made it inside.”
Continuing, Reuters added, “Prosecutors have filed conspiracy charges against 40 of those defendants, alleging that they engaged in some degree of planning before the attack. They alleged that one Proud Boy leader recruited members and urged them to stockpile bulletproof vests and other military-style equipment in the weeks before the attack and on Jan. 6 sent members forward with a plan to split into groups and make multiple entries to the Capitol.”
Still, “so far prosecutors have steered clear of more serious, politically-loaded charges that the sources said had been initially discussed by prosecutors, such as seditious conspiracy or racketeering.”
Reuters also reported that a Democratic source in Congress told the news service that senior lawmakers were briefed in detail on the FBI’s results so far and find them credible.
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