Representative Lauren Boebert and ten House Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding to know why protesters at the Capitol on January 6th are being arrested and jailed – some for going on six months now – while many BLM protesters were not.
The letter asks Garland to explain an “inconsistent application of the law with respect to rioters across the country.”
“The foundation of our criminal justice system requires that all defendants are treated equally before the law, but the Biden regime is not living up to this solemn obligation,” Boebert (R-CO) said in a statement.
Addressing the matter on Twitter, Boebert added that the Biden administration is using “indefinite detention” as “a tactic used to coerce confessions or entice a plea.”
I led ten of my colleagues in writing a letter to AG Merrick Garland asking him to address the treatment of these Americans versus the treatment of those who rioted in cities during BLM protests.
We need to have a justice system that treats all people equally before the law.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) July 21, 2021
RELATED: McCarthy Picks Jim Jordan, Other Trump Allies For Pelosi’s January 6 Select Committee
Boebert: Why Are Capitol Protesters Being Jailed?
Boebert is demanding to know why there seems to be two sets of laws and punishment – one for BLM protesters and one for Trump-supporting protesters.
A report by The Guardian indicates that dozens “of those defendants (Capitol protesters) remained in detention.”
56 people are still behind bars well over six months after the incident took place.
Lauren Boebert says Jan. 6 rioters treated differently to BLM rioters https://t.co/BQmMwlgpWH via @MailOnline
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) July 21, 2021
Earlier this week, a man who pled guilty to breaching the Senate chamber during the January protest was sentenced to eight months in prison.
CNN describes the nefarious acts this particular man carried out as such: “He spent about 15 minutes inside the Senate chamber, wearing a Donald Trump shirt and carrying a Trump flag.”
He was not accused of any violent act.
The letter to AG Garland, according to the Daily Mail, notes that prosecutors have signed off on at least a dozen “deferred resolution agreements in federal felony cases” from clashes in last year’s BLM protests.
In April, Politico fretted that federal prosecutors’ “show of leniency” for Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland would lead to lesser charges for those entangled in the Capitol incident.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here.
The prosecutors issued dozens of probation agreements for BLM protesters that would “leave the defendants with a clean criminal record if they stay out of trouble.”
“Some lawyers attribute the government’s newfound willingness to resolve the Portland protest cases without criminal convictions to the arrival of President Joe Biden’s administration,” Politico wrote at the time.
Paul Allard Hodgkins gets 8 months in prison, BLM terrorists walk free.https://t.co/wX35cldNPT
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) July 21, 2021
RELATED: Report: Hunter Biden Prosecutor Waited To Reveal Tax Investigation Until After Election
Claims Of Being Beaten By Jail Guards
A suspect held on charges stemming from the Capitol riot has alleged that he was “severely beaten” by jail guards, while another claimed others held are being subjected to “violence, threats, and verbal harassment.”
Capitol riot defendant “viciously and savagely” beaten by guard in Washington, D.C. jail, lawyer says https://t.co/Z5T8T28Wut
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 8, 2021
Violent extremists associated with Black Lives Matter protests last Spring set fires and smashed windows in an attack at a federal courthouse.
Accounts at the time indicated protesters were repeatedly warned that they were trespassing on federal property.
Rioters Launch Attack On Portland Courthouse, Police Precinct. ICE Agents Harassed While Arresting Criminals. https://t.co/I28Tfsi9UV pic.twitter.com/UaAGkMB9C4
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 13, 2020
Garland made his view of the two groups of protesters known, indicating quite clearly that he was taking the Capitol incident far more seriously than the sustained attacks on the federal courthouse.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley asked Garland during his confirmation hearing if “assaults on federal property” constituted domestic terrorism like that which was seen at the Capitol.
As the Washington Post writes, Garland responded that the Capitol riot in January is domestic terrorism, “while attacking a courthouse at night (as occurred in Portland) is not.”
That, apparently, is the difference between spending 8 months in jail and getting probation and a clean slate.
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #16 on Feedspot’s “Top 70 Conservative Political Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2021.”
