by Julie Kelly at Declassified with Julie Kelly Substack
If the events of January 6 had to be described solely based on the number of criminal charges, the media would be forced to call it a “parade” rather than an “insurrection.”
By far, the most common charge brought against January 6 defendants is violating 40 U.S.C. Section 5104(e)(2)(G)—“parading, picketing, or demonstrating in a Capitol building.” The Class B misdemeanor also has resulted in the most plea agreements in what the Biden Justice Department calls the “Capitol Siege” investigation.
But DOJs use of the parading offense is just another example of how certain laws have been weaponized to criminalize political speech and dissent. In fact, none other than the former chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. questioned the DOJs unusual application of the parading statute nearly two years ago.
Before sentencing a Tennessee man who had pleaded guilty to the parading count, Judge Beryl Howell admitted U.S. district courts seldom, if ever, handle such trivial charges. “I don’t think it’s any secret to say that federal judges rarely deal with Class B petty offense misdemeanors; this is not our normal diet of criminal conduct, offense conduct,” Howell said during the October 2021 hearing for Jack Jesse Griffth, who spent roughly ten minutes inside the building on January 6.
Specific to demonstrations held in the nation’s capital,…
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