Capitol Insurrectionists Are Not Being Illegally Detained Or Tortured

Misbar’s investigation concludes that the majority of Joseph McBride's claims are false. Those who are being detained are not being held illegally or under false charges. The Department of Justice has a list of all of the defendants who have been charged in a federal court related to the Capitol riot. These defendants are all held under legitimate charges, such as entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, and violent entry into a Capitol building along with similar charges.

McBride’s own client Richard Barnett, who is infamous for a viral photo of him putting his feet onto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk, has been charged with eight crimes. These include entering and remaining in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon, theft of government property, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon. 

These charges also explain why many sources use the term insurrectionist. It is simpler to use this term than to state that the defendants are people who have committed the crimes of entering restricted buildings, stealing government property, acting in disorderly ways, etc. Additionally, people such as Republican Senator Mitt Romney have used the term insurrection to describe the events of January sixth, which casts doubt on the idea that the Biden Administration is calling the Capitol rioters insurrectionists as a form of political propaganda. 

The majority of the people who have been charged in the capitol riot are not currently imprisoned. In late May, The Guardian reported that at least 70% of the Capitol rioters had been released and were awaiting trial outside of a correctional facility. This release rate is significantly higher than the standard release rate for federal defendants, which is 25%, the source also noted. Also, this source stated that Richard Barnett, McBride’s defendant, was released from jail in late April. 

In April, Politico reported that tensions between January sixth inmates and guards in the Washington D.C correctional facility were high. One of the prisoners even alleged that correctional officers had beaten him, and others stated that they had been held in cells without human contact for 23 hours a day. Another inmate claimed that he had witnessed guards tackling Barnett to the ground. The jail’s spokesperson stated that the incident of the beating was under federal investigation, which shows that the incident is likely not the result of the Biden Administration but inappropriate conduct by correctional officers. 

Conditions in a D.C. correctional facility are starkly different from those at Guantanamo Bay, and extremely different from conditions under the Gestapo. Guantanamo Bay was opened in 2002 in Cuba as a means to circumvent U.S. and international law. Over 700 people have been held in this facility to date. Guantanamo Bay has held prisoners for indefinite periods of time without trial and has conducted extensive torture upon its prisoners. In Gestapo interrogation camps, prisoners have suffered from malnutrition and systematic torture such as spending eight hours a day in cold baths. 

Therefore, while it is legitimate for McBride to advocate for his client’s rights and the rights of the other accused Capitol rioters, it is false for him to claim that the government is torturing and illegally holding the Capitol rioters. 

There have been some legitimate reports of abuse of jailed Capitol rioters, but these incidents are under investigation by the government, making the situation significantly different from those that occurred in Guantanamo Bay or in a Gestapo detention facility.