This is only the start for tougher punishment of the Capitol terrorists. There is the long-standing statute imposing the toughest punishment for "seditious conspiracy." The telling line in the statute is "to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States" and or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States." This obviously is a major federal felony and so is the punishment up to twenty years imprisonment.
There is much talk that the Capitol terrorist's actions certainly fit the definition of "seditious conspiracy" and much more. Yet, at least in the first wave of arrests and charges, not one terrorist was charged under that statute. A charge here sends the message that federal prosecutors proclaimed they intend to send that the Capitol action is an outright rebellion and those who engaged in that rebellion will be punished accordingly.
There's more. Barnett's hand slap initial charge and bail, though countermanded by another federal judge, doesn't tell much about what his legal fate will ultimately be. After, the media and public attention to the Capitol terrorism is long over these questions remain. Will there be a trial, a plea bargain, a dismissal of some of the charges, if there is a trial and a conviction will he actually get some serious prison time?
Barnett is more than just a name, and a defendant, he's in a real sense emblematic of how the cases against many if not all of the hundreds of persons the feds say will be prosecuted for the Capitol terror attack are eventually disposed of.
Prosecutors continually assure that the charges are just the beginning, not the end of their purported crackdown on the terrorists. Time will tell just how true this is. One thing, though, that time has proven is that when it comes to getting after white terrorists who wreak mayhem, havoc and even murder in the name of their beliefs, the jury is always way out on how they will be handled.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His latest book is Why Black Lives Do Matter (Middle Passage Press). He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network
.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
