In the wake of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, some of those convicted for partaking in the violence that day have gone on to be arrested for additional, unrelated crimes, CBS News reports.
According to a CBS News review of Justice Department filings, a growing number of Jan. 6 defendant have been arrested for crimes involving guns, drugs and domestic abuse, making it difficult for them to secure lenient sentences in their Capitol riot cases.
U.S. Navy reservist Hatchet Speed, who is charged with joining a group of Proud Boys as they rioted at the Capitol building that day, is currently facing prosecutions regarding his alleged unlawful possession of firearms, silencers, and a series of firearms purchases after Jan. 6, 2021, in what they called a $50,000 spree of “panic buying.”
From CBS News:
Prosecutors alleged an undercover FBI agent met with Speed in February. During the meeting, prosecutors alleged Speed’s comments “included statements that glorified violence, expressed admiration for convicted domestic terrorists, and justified the use of violence in furtherance of his anti-government and anti-Semitic beliefs.”
In court filings in the Virginia case, prosecutors said, “Speed also made comments sympathizing with domestic terrorists Eric Rudolph and Ted Kaczynski.” They alleged that “Speed made comments discussing his admiration for Adolf Hitler, describing Hitler as ‘one of the best people that’s ever been on this earth’ and stating that he ‘really want[s] somebody like Hitler to stand up and say, we’re going to stand against this moral incineration that we’re seeing in the western world.'”
Another example cited by CBS News Kene Lazo, who was arrested last year on charges related to Jan. 6, but has since been arrested on additional charges related to domestic violence.
As part of their argument to secure a prison sentence for Lazo, the Justice Department argued Lazo had a criminal history outside of the Capitol riot case, including the Aug. 2021 arrest and subsequent conviction for domestic violence. Details of the domestic violence case were included in initial court filings by the Justice Department, but later sealed from the public docket.
Read the full report over at CBS News.
