On the day the United States marked the one-year mark of one of the biggest recent attacks on democracy in the country, a District of Columbia judge was direct in judging the unusual request of an accused of participating in the act. “This court will not commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Capitol Hill attack,” wrote Beryl Howell.
The magistrate analyzed the request of Anthony Williams, defendant in five crimes for involvement in the invasion of Congress by supporters of former President Donald Trump, for a ten-day trip to Jamaica. His goal was to visit his girlfriend’s family, with whom he has been in a relationship “for over a year”. The prosecution had already expressed its opposition to the request.
The case was revealed by BuzzFeed News.
In the decision, Howell more than once uses a tone of sarcasm, saying he knows that his denial will impact what would be “an important step in the personal relationship [amorosa]” from the defendant, “who wishes to leave the Michigan winter for ten days in the warmer climate of Jamaica.”
She points out, however, that Williams “wasted his unrestricted authorization for international travel when […], on December 30, 2020, announced his intention” to participate in popular unrest in Washington. On the date, as Trump propagated false allegations of fraud in the election he lost to Joe Biden, many of his supporters planned actions for the day of the ratification of the result in Congress.
“Yes, we’re pissed and we’re heading to the Capitol,” Williams wrote in a Facebook post highlighted in the lawsuit. In the decision, Howell still remembers that, on the day of the attack, the defendant was proud and satisfied, saying that, along with the crowd, he had “taken [aquela] fucking building”.
Despite the vandalism, the record of threats to congressmen and clashes with police – the invasion of the Capitol left five dead -, he treated the day as “the proudest of my life”.
The investigation uncovered Williams’ involvement in the attack because of Facebook posts made while he was in the building. In the videos, to which the FBI had access, he speaks of the success of entering Congress and says that “extreme times call for extreme measures”. The images also show him next to statues that stand at the headquarters of the American Legislature.
The Trump supporter is accused by the US justice of committing five crimes, including entering and staying in a restricted building or land, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or land and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill.
Williams’ travel request is not unheard of. According to BuzzFeed, in February an American from Texas also accused of participating in the invasion requested authorization to go to Mexico for work.
At the time, the prosecutor did not oppose the request and the judge in the case authorized the trip. The episode, however, generated revolt from many Americans, who accused the Justice Department of loosening the deal with the invaders. In the US, it is common for magistrates to authorize this type of displacement to defendants who are responsible for non-violent crimes.
A year after a mob stormed Congress trying to cancel the election result that guaranteed Republican Donald Trump’s defeat, the US has found and punished more than 700 participants in the attack.
The investigation involves several federal agencies. On one front, the FBI has done extensive work to identify and arrest people who actually participated in the invasion. The large amount of images, many of them published on social networks by the activists themselves, has helped in the task.
According to Justice Department data, as of December 30, about 725 defendants have been arrested. Of these, more than 225 were prosecuted for attacking or preventing the work of public servants, 10 for attacking press professionals and 75 for entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon.
Another 40 were prosecuted for conspiracy to obstruct congressional action, impede police action or attack agents. Of the defendants, 165 have pleaded guilty and 70 have already been tried: 38 received prison sentences — the harshest of which was 5 years and 3 months.
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