A federal judge declared on Tuesday that the new president should not pardon everyone who trespassed, clashed with police, rioted, or damaged property during the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Federal prosecutors claimed that defendant Edward Jacob Lang enthusiastically shared his role in the violence on social media, and U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols was considering arguments for postponing his trial. Defendants from Jan. 6 have made a tidal wave of petitions to postpone their cases until after the inauguration after the election. Though he hasn’t specified who would get them, President-elect Trump has made no secret of his intention to pardon the rioters of January 6.
Additional Law&Crime News: We’ll shatter you motherf! On January 6, an Army veteran who was court-martialed for shooting a restrained Iraqi in the head will serve time in prison for battling police officers manning the Capitol.
According to reports, Nichols advised Trump against pardoning all of the siege’s participants.
Reporter Jordan Fischer of the Washington, D.C., CBS affiliate WUSA stated that it would be extremely irritating and disheartening if there were pardons for the defendants from January 6 or anything similar.
Additionally, he asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin if it would be moot to hold the trial before January 20.
According to Rochlin, there is a chance that a government official would decide to dismiss the case before sentencing, and I would have to follow their decision. That they won’t is just as possible, if not more likely.
Rochlin contended that Lang’s claim that he is a contender for a presidential pardon is merely conjectural in his plea to Nichols not to postpone the trial. In his remarks, Lang criticized the legal system and claimed that Trump’s inauguration marked a radical change in government policy with regard to January 6 defendants.
Because of the January 6 prosecutions, the American public no longer believes that the legal system is unbiased. According to the motion, allegations of biased jury pools, political bias, and selective enforcement have dogged these cases. This Court must oppose the Department of Justice’s ongoing politicized witch hunt and show that justice and fairness are still the top priorities in these proceedings if it hopes to rebuild public trust in the legal system.
According to WUSA, Nichols grudgingly consented to continue the trial in the end.
Trump appointed Nichols to the D.C. court in 2019, and he became well-known for dismissing a defendant’s obstruction allegation from the Enron era on January 6. This decision affected hundreds of cases, including Lane’s. In the end, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his ruling.
Authorities referenced Lang’s social media posts in his arrest affidavit, as Law&Crime previously reported.
In an official caption, he stated, “Pepper spray really does wonders for your complexion #1776.”
In a different post that officials highlighted, he stated, “I was the leader of Liberty today.” Take me into custody. You are living in the wrong era.
Authorities added that video also showed him wearing a riot helmet that was taken from the ground by the D.C. Metro police.
There was footage of someone who appeared to be Lang photographing himself in front of police officers while donning a green gas mask. The FBI claims that another video that was uploaded to Facebook showed Lang repeatedly swinging a baseball bat at officers.
In doing so, LANG hit the officers’ shields in front of them, at the very least. According to the affidavit, more members of the crowd join in the assault as the video goes on, with some hurling objects and one person dousing the officers with a fire extinguisher.
Investigators claimed that Lang conversed with an unnamed lady in a different video that was posted to Instagram, and the woman asked him what he anticipated happening next.
Weapons Lang stated in the affidavit, “That’s it.” Just one word. When the First Amendment failed, we invoked the Second Amendment. Every single person there was a civilized person who enjoyed going to work, praying to God on Sundays, and enjoying pleasant family barbecues. Nobody wants to take this and give their life for our rights, but at this point, the only viable option for anyone with a reasonable mind is to give their life for our rights. It’s this.
Ten days or so after the riot, Lang was taken into custody by FBI investigators.
This report was contributed to by Alberto Luperon.
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