Federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s mob that laid siege on the U.S. Capitol last week intended “to capture and assassinate elected officials.”
Prosecutors made the assessment in a court filing that requested a judge keep QAnon conspiracy theorist Jacob Chansley, an Arizona man who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week outfitted in horns, fur and face paint, detained before his trial.
U.S. Attorney Michael Bailey and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Brook in Arizona warned in the filing first reported by Reuters, that Chansley had expressed interest in returning to Washington, D.C. for President-Elect Biden’s inauguration and “has the ability to do so if the Court releases him.”
“Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government,” the prosecutors wrote in an 18-page memo demanding the insurrectionist’s detention.
The filing indicates that after posing for a photo at the Senate dais last Wednesday, Chansley left a note for Vice President Mike Pence, who had been swept away to safety amid the attack, warning the vice president that “it’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Prosecutors suggested that the violent Capitol riot was part of an ongoing attempt to overthrow the federal government, saying, “the insurrection is still in progress” as law enforcement prepares for potential attempts at further violence ahead of Biden’s inauguration next week.
The prosecutors’ assessment comes as lawmakers on Thursday reported plans to purchase body armor and alter their routines amid death threats in the wake of the attack which left five people, including a Capitol police officer dead.
The court filing arrives as it grows increasingly clear that law enforcement and federal authorities had also failed to properly secure the Capitol complex and issue warnings amid clear threats of violence, ahead of the Jan. 6 session to reaffirm Joe Biden as the nation’s next president.
Chansley had even told the Globe and Mail that Capitol Police had let him into the Capitol on the day of the attack, although he was later charged with entering a restricted building without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
The Justice Department has brought more than 80 criminal cases in connection with last’ weeks violent riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Read the full detention memo below:
