(Washington) The administration of President Joe Biden will prosecute all participants in the assault on Congress on January 6, 2021, “regardless of their status,” US Justice Minister Merrick Garland said on Wednesday.
His ministry “is committed to making all the assailants of January 6, whatever their status – whether they were present that day or whether they are criminally responsible for the attack on our democracy, ”Garland said in a speech on the eve of 1er anniversary of the assault.
“We will follow the facts wherever they lead,” he continued, as ex-Republican President Donald Trump is accused by his detractors of having incited his supporters to attack Congress.
The minister did not refer to Mr. Trump or say whether the former White House tenant was under judicial investigation.
A parliamentary commission composed mainly of elected Democrats is currently trying to determine whether Donald Trump encouraged or coordinated the violence of his supporters against the seat of Congress and the police officers who were protecting him.
Five police officers and a female protester died in connection with the assault, and 140 officers were injured.
Merrick Garland called for patience with the largest investigation in the ministry’s history, with more than 725 people indicted so far, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
And he assured the impartiality of justice in the face of the political challenge represented for Democrat Joe Biden by an investigation into his Republican predecessor.
“In our surveys, there cannot be different rules according to membership or affiliation to a political party, there cannot be different rules for friends and enemies, for those who have power and those who do not. do not have any. ”
The minister also denounced Donald Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud in the November 3, 2020 election.
“These accusations, which have eroded the confidence of the population in the legitimacy of our elections, have been repeatedly refuted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the current and previous administrations, as well as by each court – d ‘State or federal – who studied them,’ he said.
These allegations of fraud have resulted in threats and violence against local and federal politicians who are “deeply dangerous to our democracy,” the minister warned.
“Peaceful expression of an opinion or ideology – no matter how extreme – is protected by the First Amendment” of the Constitution, but not “unlawfully threatening to harm or kill someone.” ‘one,’ he recalled.