Hundreds of rioters convicted for their part in the Jan 6 insurrection could be freed after a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday.
In a decision that could have implications for Donald Trump, the court held that prosecutors had gone too far in charging more than 350 people with trying to obstruct Congress when they tried to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The case was brought by Joseph Fischer, a former police officer, who was part of the mob which stormed the Capitol in Washington DC.
Along with hundreds of other rioters he had been prosecuted by the Department of Justice, which argued that the rioters who forced their way into the Capitol had been guilty of obstructing an official procedure.
In a majority ruling, the judges said the charge obstructing an official proceeding – in this case, the ratification of the election result – could only apply to people who had tampered or destroyed documents.
The cases will be referred back to lower courts, which will rule on whether the defendants charged under the legislation should be freed. However many have also been convicted of other offences as well.
Obstruction charges
Mr Trump’s lawyers are expected to file papers seeking to strike out the obstruction charges faced by the former president.
Although legal experts suggested he would be unlikely to benefit from the ruling.
“The charges against him involve falsifying or altering ‘records, documents, or objects’. So I think it likely doesn’t undermine those charges,” one expert told the BBC.
Mr Trump will learn next week whether the Supreme Court has accepted his argument that he enjoys presidential immunity, which bars him from being prosecuted for any crimes while he was in the White House.
More than 1,500 people were charged with an array of offences for their part in the riot, including using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to a police officer.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he is ready to pardon the rioters if he wins the election.
On Friday the former president told a rally that the rioters should be “immediately released”.
“Biden’s Department of Justice has wrongly prosecuted hundreds of Americans for peacefully protesting on Jan 6,” the Mr Trump said.
“Those people have been treated so badly especially when you compare them with people that ripped apart and killed people [in the 2020 protests] in Portland and Seattle.
“They have been treated so badly. So we’re asking, based on the decision, they should immediately be released.”
‘No accountability’
Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, who was one of the officers who tried to resist the rioters, condemned Friday’s ruling.
“It is very disappointing that the Supreme Court ruled there should be almost no accountability for those people who assaulted many police officers as they tried to overturn the transfer of power,” he told CNN.
Harry Dunn, another police officer, said the refusal to accept the results of the election laid the groundwork of what happened on Jan 6 and accused the former president of “sowing the seeds of another Jan 6”.