WASHINGTON – A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday visited the DC jail where supporters of Donald Trump have been held for rioting on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021.
The delegation is made up of Casa OveMembers of the Vision Committee investigating the alleged unequal treatment of the January 6 protesters Greene describes as “political prisoners.”
The DC jail is notorious for its poor treatment of inmates, but Greene and committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) have suggested they are only interested in the plight of rioters.
“The Committee is concerned by reports that those detained on January 6 face a unique form of mistreatment due to their politics and beliefs, representing potential human rights abuses,” Comer and Greene wrote in a letter earlier this year. this month.
The visit is part of a broader effort by House Republicans to recast the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters as a louder tourist visit, and a pretense for “government arming.” against Trump supporters.
Most of the inmates in the DC jail are city residents awaiting trial or sentencing or serving a sentence for a misdemeanor. Nonviolent offenders are generally not held in jail until their hearing date.
Greene has claimed that nonviolent Trump supporters have been in jail for years awaiting trial for simply setting foot on Capitol grounds. However, Greene has not given names.
A Justice Department spokesperson previously told HuffPost that most of those remanded in custody on January 6 committed violent crimes and that none were charged solely with misdemeanors.
The website security only obtained a list of 20 Capitol riot defendants being held in the DC jail and reported this week that “all of them have been charged with committing serious crimes” such as assaulting police officers.
about a a thousand people they have been charged with criminal offenses for their part in the riots.
This post will be updated.
