Rioters at Capitol Face Long-Term Prosecutions as Police in Washington Pledge to Pursue Them

WASHINGTON -- Federal and local prosecutors in Washington, D.C. have a long road ahead of them after the mayor and the FBI pledged to track down and prosecute any protesters who broke the law during the riot at the U.S. Capitol building last week.

They are posting photos and video from the mob violence on Internet sites while asking members of the public to help identify them.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who called in the National Guard to assist police during the breach of the Capitol, said she is reviewing options “both to hold people accountable and to ensure it never happens again.”

The violence was prompted by a routine procedure in Congress to certify Electoral College votes showing Joe Biden won the November presidential election. President Donald Trump and his supporters insist the election was corrupted by voter fraud and should be overturned by Congress.

Rather than throw out the results, Congress adjourned for a few hours during the rioting but returned to certify that Biden won the election.

By then, vandals who support Trump had ransacked the Capitol. One protester was shot and killed by a police officer. A curfew extended over the District of Columbia and its Virginia suburbs.

Bowser put some of the blame on Trump.

“We know that the current president must be held accountable for this unprecedented attack on our democracy,” she said.

Police Chief Robert J. Contee implied the arrests and prosecutions are likely to continue for a lengthy period of time.

“We still have a significant amount of work ahead of us” to find the persons who broke into the Capitol, fought with police and vandalized the building, Contee said.

Only one of the 68 people arrested during or in the hours after the riot was from the District of Columbia, Contee said. The others would need to be found in many other parts of the United States.

Fifty-six Washington, D.C. police officers were injured. One Capitol Police officer died.

Regardless of difficulties, Contee said he plans “to pursue those responsible for these shameful and dangerous acts.”

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