A report that the Justice Department is “debating whether they should decline to charge some of the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol” is causing heated reaction on Twitter today. The Washington Post writes that about 800 people “surged into the building,” but the behavior ranges from “people dressed for military battle, moving in formation, to wanton vandalism, to simply going with the crowd into the building.”
Due to the wide variety of behavior, some federal officials have argued internally that those people who are known only to have committed unlawful entry — and were not engaged in violent, threatening or destructive behavior — should not be charged, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The concern is hundreds of cases “could swamp the local courthouse,” and “some in federal law enforcement are concerned that charging people solely with unlawful entry, when they are not known to have committed any other bad acts, could lead to losses if they go to trial.“
But there is an outcry over the kind of signal that would send by to not prosecuting these individuals.