After five months of dragnet arrests nationwide, a few reporters have noted that no one was actually charged with insurrection or sedition.

This is a very good piece.  From The FBI comes up empty-handed in its search for a Jan. 6 plot by Jonathan Turley.  It echoes the observations I made in a post a few days ago but his argument is clearer and more robust than mine.  

This was a demonstration, not an insurrection.  The insistence on calling it an insurrection is a legal and political power play with no empirical merit.  Politicians are distorting the law by applying different standards for the same actions.  

More than 570 people have been arrested, but only 40 face conspiracy charges. Those charges are often based on prior discussions about trying to enter Congress or bringing material to use in the riot; some clearly came prepared for rioting with ropes, chemical irritants and other materials. Those cases, however, are a small group among the hundreds charged and an even smaller percentage among the tens of thousands of protesters on that day.

After five months of dragnet arrests nationwide, a few reporters have noted that no one was actually charged with insurrection or sedition. The vast majority of people face charges such as simple trespass. For example, the latest guilty plea is from San Francisco real estate broker Jennifer Leigh Ryan, who posted an account on social media of how "we're gonna go down and storm the capitol." She pleaded guilty this week to "parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building" and faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Yet the characterization of the “insurrection” has continued as a virtual article of faith for those reporting on or writing about Jan. 6. Moreover, the treatment of many has remained severe, if not draconian by design. Justice official Michael Sherwin proudly declared in a television interview that “our office wanted to ensure that there was shock and awe. ... It worked because we saw through media posts that people were afraid to come back to D.C. because they’re like, ‘If we go there, we're gonna get charged.’ ... We wanted to take out those individuals that essentially were thumbing their noses at the public for what they did.”

That “shock and awe” included holding people without bail and imposing “restrictive housing” for no obvious reason. That includes some of the most notable figures from that day, such as Jacob Chansley (aka Jake Angeli), better known as “Chewbacca man” or the “QAnon shaman” for the distinctive horned headdress he wore during the riot. Angeli, 33, is not accused of attacking anyone while parading around the Senate floor in his bear skin. He always insisted he was not trying to overthrow the nation with his decorative outfit and spear-topped flagpole. While the government did not find that he engaged in sedition, it did learn that he has an array of mental illnesses, including transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. Yet he has been held since the riot and is charged with six crimes, including violent entry, trespass and parading, which collectively could yield up to 28 years in prison.

The rebuilding of citizen trust in government depends on members of government demonstrating greater philosophical consistency and trustworthiness than they appear willing to do.