Concern grows at slowdown of Jan. 6 rioter arrests as clock ticks down on statute of limitations

According to a report from the Daily Beast, there is growing concern among some FBI insiders and online sleuths that the round-up and prosecution of Jan. 6 rioters has slowed down with the clock ticking on the statute of limitations for charging them.

As the Beast's Kelly Weill wrote, as of July the statute of limitations passed the halfway point and that is creating a sense of urgency among those who want to see the Donald Trump-supporting insurrectionists held accountable for the assault on lawmakers who were trying to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

According to a former FBI official who requested their name not be used, "We hear people like Director Wray saying, ‘We’re approaching this as a big deal,’ but I’m not convinced that sense of urgency is being conveyed sufficiently to certain elements of the bureau. Or if it is, and it’s not being actioned, that’s an even bigger problem.”

One online sleuth who has been feeding the FBI tips added, "There’s a lot more impatience toward the FBI, given that we’re two-and-a-half years in at this point. Many of these IDs have been sitting in an inbox for two years, or those people have not been arrested. It can be a bit frustrating.”

Noting that over 1,000 participants have been charged so far, Weill wrote, "hundreds of people from the FBI’s 'most wanted' list, alone, remain at large. Most of those remaining cases involve potential charges of assaulting a federal officer. The felony—one of the Capitol attack’s most serious charges—has a five-year statute of limitations that passed its midway point last month. And arrests rates in Jan. 6 cases have slowed. In the first year after the attack, prosecutors charged just over 700 people for their alleged involvement in the riot. In 2022, fewer than 250 new suspects faced charges."

You can read more here.