It’s been well over a year since the Capitol riot — and new arrests associated with the event are still emerging. Now, 31-year-old New York resident Eric Gerwatowski has joined those facing charges for their roles in the attack. Gerwatowski, who was arrested on Tuesday, has been charged with offenses including the felony act of civil disorder after he was discovered to have taken on a sort of leadership role in the crowd attacking the Capitol last year, among other actions. Civil disorder comes with a potential prison sentence of up to five years, if convicted, although shorter sentences are certainly possible.
Senate GOP Whip John Thune, speaking to @tedbarrettcnn on reports that Trump tore up documents, says “nobody should be exempt” from the law and adds: “He should be held to the same standards as all former presidents.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2022
As summarized in a press release from the Justice Department, Gerwatowski “was at the front of a crowd just outside the Upper House Doors” as “U.S. Capitol Police were attempting to close these doors to prevent further rioters from getting into the building.” Gerwatowski subsequently forced one of the doors open, although a pair of “officers were standing directly inside and had just tried to secure the entrance, in plain sight to Gerwatowski and others,” as the Justice Department explains. After getting the door open, Gerwatowski apparently beckoned the crowd behind him into the building, calling out, “Let’s go!” He also went inside.
New statement from Donald Trump: “Mitch McConnell does not speak for the Republican Party, and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters. He did nothing to fight for his constituents and stop the most fraudulent election in American history”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) February 9, 2022
Civil disorder is defined in part under federal law as committing or attempting to commit “any act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any fireman or law enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties incident to and during the commission of a civil disorder which in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or adversely affects… [the] performance of any federally protected function.” Gerwatowski’s interactions with police officers at the Capitol last January certainly seem to fit the bill. His other charges include entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. He is among over 725 individuals to have been charged so far in connection to their participation in the Capitol riot, according to the Justice Department’s tally — over 225 of whom have been charged with assaulting or impeding police officers in some fashion.
Donald J. Trump https://t.co/wPkBAGI0mY
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) February 8, 2022
Other recently apprehended individuals who took part in the riot include North Carolina resident Matthew Beddingfield, who was out on bail while facing an attempted murder charge in his home state when he showed up at the Capitol, where he repeatedly assaulted police. His federal charges now include assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury — which comes with a sentence of up to 20 years in jail, if convicted of the offense. These are the people who former President Trump is apparently so eager to defend, while most prominent Republicans stick right by him, despite the implications.
In the weeks after the 2020 election, Rudy Giuliani and other legal advisers to President Donald Trump asked a Republican prosecutor in northern Michigan to get his county’s voting machines and pass them to Trump’s team, the prosecutor told The Post. https://t.co/Dccepn5gVD
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 9, 2022
Featured Image (edited): via Blink o’fanaye on Flickr and available under a Creative Commons License
