A former agent with the FBI who worked as a supervisor in the federal law enforcement agency before a departure in 2017 has been arrested for participating in the subsequent attack on the Capitol in 2021 incited by Donald Trump’s lies about the then-recent presidential election.
While at the Capitol, the defendant — Jared Wise — yelled in support of the death of officers, according to allegations against him. In his rants, he also reportedly compared officers he encountered to Nazis and members of the Gestapo, the latter of which was a secret police organization operated by the Nazis. He is facing a series of lower-level criminal charges, including multiple allegations of disorderly conduct. At the Capitol, he entered the building, and it’s those who went into the Capitol and/or engaged in physical violence who have been most often targeted by prosecutors, rather than all those who violated secure perimeters established outside that day. A source for federal authorities was an individual to whom Wise spoke about his participation.
Others with notable career histories who have been among those arrested in connection to the riot include a former Marine whose job responsibilities, when still in the service, included involvement with maintenance for presidential aircraft. John D. Andries, that defendant, pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. His service so close to the president ended early in Barack Obama’s tenure, so he was long out of that role when he joined the attack on the Capitol.
Others with involvement in law enforcement and the military have also been arrested, like former New York City officer Thomas Webster, who was sentenced to ten years in prison after a targeted attack on a single officer helping defend the Capitol complex. Webster tackled his target to the ground, erupting into a rage as the officer tried to neutralize the threat from a metal flag pole Webster was wielding. Prosecutors have repeatedly sought other sentences past 10 years, but federal judges handling these sentencings have wide leeway to make decisions. Arrests in Capitol riot cases have flown past 1,000 and continue.
