Two Years Later, Prosecutions of Jan. 6 Rioters Continue to Grow (Published 2023) (2024)

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The Justice Department’s investigation of the Capitol attack, already the largest it has ever conducted, has resulted in 900 arrests, with the potential for scores or hundreds more to come.

By Alan Feuer

Jan. 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — The investigation into the storming of the Capitol is, by any measure, the biggest criminal inquiry in the Justice Department’s 153-year history.

And even two years after Jan. 6, 2021, it is only getting bigger.

In chasing leads and making arrests, federal agents have already seized hundreds of cellphones, questioned thousands of witnesses and followed up on tens of thousands of tips in an exhaustive process that has resulted so far in more than 900 arrests from Maine to California.

But the inquiry, as vast as it has been, is still far from complete: Scores, if not hundreds, more people could face charges in the year — or years — to come, spread out over the course of many months so as not to flood the courts.

The Capitol siege investigation, as the government likes to call it, has been, among other things, a highly publicized and sophisticated effort to bring to justice extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia. Both played central roles in attacking the Capitol and disrupting a pillar of American democracy on Jan. 6: the lawful transfer of presidential power.

But it has also lumbered on at a quieter level, with a series of less prominent trials and arrests that have touched the lives of more ordinary people: the members of the mob who may not have planned for violence but nonetheless broke into the Capitol that day — many after falling victim to the lies about election fraud spread by President Donald J. Trump.

At the same time, the inquiry into what happened at the Capitol has served as the backdrop to the special counsel investigation that is examining the roles that Mr. Trump and several of his aides and lawyers played in a broader attempt to overturn the results of the election. That investigation, which has so far rested largely on cellphone seizures and grand jury subpoenas, will ultimately have to determine whether Mr. Trump’s norm-shattering efforts to remain in power actually violated any federal laws.

18 charged with seditious conspiracy

Eleven were members of the

Oath Keepers, a far-right militia

largely made up of current and

former law enforcement and

military personnel.

Seven were members of the

Proud Boys, a far-right

nationalist group.

284 charged with assaulting or resisting an officer

Five charged were members of

America First, a white nationalist

group led by Nick Fuentes. The

defendants are also facing

several other charges.

Two men, Julian Khater and

George Tanios, pleaded guilty

to assaulting Capitol Police

officer Brian Sicknick, who

later died.

Two men, Kyle Young and

Albuquerque Cosper Head,

pleaded guilty in connection with

assaulting Metropolitan Police

officer Michael Fanone.

Thomas Webster was sentenced

to 10 years in prison — the

longest sentence so far — for

attacking an officer with a

flagpole, among other charges.

295 charged with obstruction of an official proceeding before Congress

Jacob Chansley, better known as

the QAnon Shaman, was among

Incarceration sentences for those receiving prison time

Incarceration sentences among those receiving prison time

Most defendants were

sentenced to less than

six months in prison.

Retired N.Y.P.D. Officer

Thomas Webster

received the longest

sentence so far.

Videos showed him

assaulting an officer

with a flagpole.

Two men were each

sentenced to more

than seven years

for dragging an officer

into the mob, where

he was assaulted.

1 year

3 years

5 years

7 years

10 years