'Scores' of Jan. 6 rioters recently identified by tipsters 'will soon be prosecuted': DOJ

Since the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested roughly 1,200 rioters and secured guilty pleas or convictions from approximately 900. But according to a new report, the DOJ will be ramping up prosecutions of insurrectionists in 2024.

NBC News reported Saturday that Matthew Graves — the DOJ's top prosecutor in Washington, DC — has confirmed that plenty more arrests of January 6 rioters will soon be made, thanks to the help of online sleuths who tipped off the FBI.

"Many citizens from around the country have already come forward to identify individuals connected with the January 6 attacks," Graves said at a recent press conference. "As a result of these tips, scores of individuals have been identified and will soon be prosecuted for violent acts at the Capitol and other violations of federal law."

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This is welcome news to the so-called "sedition hunters" who have spent the last three years combing through footage of January 6 rioters and identifying the ones they know to federal investigators. One online sleuth speaking anonymously to NBC said it was "frustrating" to see those who participated in the insurrection still walking free in their communities despite being reported to the FBI.

"On my mind would be making sure to keep Jan. 6 in the public eye, to continue to not only try to hold rioters accountable for their actions but also law enforcement, the DOJ as a whole," NBC's source said.

While many of the rioters caught on tape ransacking the US Capitol still remain at large — including one who planted pipe bombs at the headquarters of both the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee — the DOJ has two years left to prosecute them under the five-year statute of limitations. The FBI has announced a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the pipe bomb suspect.

On the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6 attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the DOJ's work "continues," and that his agency "will hold all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under the law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."

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