AG Garland Won’t Examine J6 Prisoner Civil Rights

(VitalNews.org) – Despite a request from the House Appropriations subcommittee, the US Attorney General said he would not investigate whether the US is violating the constitutional and civil rights of those still imprisoned in connection with the January 6, 2021, incident at the Capitol.

AG Merrick Garland rebuffed the request from subcommittee member Andrew Clyde (R-GA.). At a hearing on March 29, Clyde said he met with 20 prisoners who are still waiting for a trial after two years of confinement. Clyde noted that violates their constitutional right to a “speedy and public trial” under the 6th Amendment.

Garland said it was not his responsibility to do so but the responsibility of the prisoners’ lawyers. He dismissed Clyde’s request saying “the beauty of the 6th Amendment” is that detainees are entitled to a lawyer, and it’s that lawyer’s job to argue that their rights have been violated.

Clydes’ request came after he toured the D.C. Department of corrections last week and met with 20 individuals detained in connection with the January 6 incident. Republicans had to press hard to be allowed access to the detainees. Most of the mainstream media, along with Democratic politicians, have characterized the incident as an “insurrection.” They have used highly emotional language, with some claiming the incident was the worst attack on American democracy in history.

It was not until this month that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy fulfilled a promise to release at least some of the surveillance videos from inside the Capitol. Fox News host Tucker Carlson played some of the footage on his nightly show. In contrast to the characterization of a crowd of dangerous “insurrectionists,” the video seems to depict citizens peacefully walking through the Capitol, sometimes appearing to be helped or conducted by the police themselves.

At the hearing, Rep. Clyde asked Garland whether two years in jail without trial meets the “speedy trial” standard under the 6th Amendment. Garland replied that it might if certain exceptions are met.