FBI Reportedly Finds Little Evidence To Show Capitol Riot Was a Coordinated Plot To Overturn Election
Law enforcement officials have not found sufficient evidence to prove that there was a “grand scheme” to organize the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and overturn the presidential election result. Citing four current…
Law Enforcement officials have not found sufficient evidence to prove that there was a “grand scheme” to organize the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and overturn the presidential election result.
Citing four current and former Law Enforcement officials who were either briefed on or involved in the investigations, Reuters reports, “Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump.”
A senior Law Enforcement official told the outlet, “Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases.”
“Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages,” the official added.
Roger Stone and Alex Jones were reportedly involved in planning pro-Trump events on Jan. 5.
Law Enforcement has found that some far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys did plan to storm the Capitol. However, Reuters notes that Law Enforcement has not found evidence that those groups had “serious plans about what to do if they made it inside.”
Still, Reuters notes, “Prosecutors have filed conspiracy charges against 40 of those defendants, alleging that they engaged in some degree of planning before the attack.”
One Proud Boy leader allegedly recruited members and encouraged them to stockpile military-style equipment ahead of the riot.
Additionally, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have spent little time discussing “seditious conspiracy” charges to accuse rioters of trying to overthrow the government. Although officials reportedly discussed such charges in the weeks immediately after the riot.
They have charged some defendants with conspiracy charges alleging that some planned the violence ahead of time. However, prosecutors have not alleged that the coordination was part of a larger plot.
Law Enforcement officials have also not found evidence to show that former President Donald Trump or people close to him helped plan the violence, according to the report.
At least 36 defendants, of the 570 defendants arrested, have pleaded guilty and more than 170 people have been charged with assaulting police officers, according to CBS News.