The top prosecutor for the District of Columbia has said “all options are on the table” for charging members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol — including sedition.
Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for Washington DC, said prosecutors plan to file 15 federal cases on Thursday for crimes including unauthorised access and theft of property, and investigators are combing through reams of evidence to bring additional charges.
“All of those charges are on the table. We will bring the most maximum charges we can,” he said.
More than 90 people have been arrested by police in Washington and more arrests are likely.
US attorneys from across the country have vowed to find and bring to justice any residents who participated in the insurrection aimed at thwarting the peaceful transfer of power.
Experts say some could face the rarely used seditious conspiracy charge.
It is the same charge that former attorney general William Barr’s Justice Department told prosecutors to consider levying against those who caused violence at protests last summer over the killings of black Americans by police.
Then-deputy attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, who stepped into the top Justice Department job when Mr Barr resigned last month, told prosecutors in a memo in September that they should consider the use of seditious conspiracy charges against violent demonstrators, saying “it does not require proof of a plot to overthrow the US government despite what the name might suggest”.
