New From Just Security: Profiles Of The January 6th Inmates In The DC Jail

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Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and James Comer (R-KY), Chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, recently announced their intention to arrange a congressional delegation to visit January 6 inmates being held in the Washington, DC jail. Both Greene and former President Donald Trump have portrayed these inmates as “political prisoners.”

However, Tom Joscelyn, Ambassador Norman Eisen (ret.), and Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer write in a powerful, new investigation on Just Security, not one of the inmates is being held for political reasons.

Twenty January 6 inmates were being held in DC as of March 13, according to the Washington, DC Department of Corrections’ official list obtained by the Just Security authors.

According to the investigation and analysis by the authors:

  • All of the 20 inmates have been charged with committing serious criminal offenses on January 6, 2021, and 17 of the 20 are accused of assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol attack;
  • The remaining three inmates, which include a Proud Boys member and an Oath Keepers member, have each been charged with committing other serious crimes on January 6, and one of them has already been convicted; and
  • Nine of the 20 inmates have already been either convicted or pleaded guilty to at least some of the charges against them.

Joscelyn, Eisen, and Wertheimer provide descriptions of the charges and evidence levied against each of the 20 defendants, based on court filings, Justice Department summaries, and some media reporting.

The 20 inmates, the authors write, “include individuals who are alleged to hold extremist or white supremacist and/or conspiratorial beliefs. Some are members of, or affiliated with, known violent extremist organizations such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters. […] Others have allegedly endorsed white nationalist or anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”

Rep. Greene, the authors write, “has long sought to portray the January 6th defendants as victims of the DC government and U.S. Department of Justice. She has, for example, repeatedly described defendants held in pre-trial custody as ‘political prisoners of war.’”

Rep. Comer, the authors write, has apparently greenlit an investigation along the lines Greene sought.

In a letter to Washington, DC’s mayor sent earlier this month, Reps. Greene, Comer, and Clay Higgins (R-LA), referred to the January 6 inmates as “detainees” even though they are in the custody of the criminal justice system and many of them have pleaded guilty or otherwise been convicted.

According to the authors: “The Representatives write that they are ‘concerned by reports that January 6 detainees are facing a unique form of mistreatment due to their politics and beliefs,’ adding this may amount to ‘potential … human rights abuses.’ They also claim that the January 6th inmates may be subjected to ‘disparate treatment.’”

Earlier this month, a federal judge, appointed by President Trump, reportedly rejected a similar argument in a case against a Proud Boys member accused of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6.

Curiously, the authors write, Representatives Greene, Comer, and Higgins do not identify any of the inmates in their letter.

“It is likely that the January 6th defendants held in Washington, DC and elsewhere will continue to be the subject of interest,” Joscelyn, Eisen, and Wertheimer write. “Echoing the words of Tucker Carlson, Trump has called January 6th inmates ‘political prisoners’ who are being subject to ‘persecution,’ and said he would issue ‘full pardons with an apology to many.’”

Read the full report on Just Security.

Tom Joscelyn is a former senior professional staff member on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Ambassador Norman Eisen (ret.) served in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the President for ethics and government reform and as ambassador to the Czech Republic under President Barack Obama. He served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019–20, including for the first impeachment and trial of President Trump.

Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to strengthen our democracy.

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