By Aharon Abhishek
Should Elizabeth be detained and brought up on federal sedition charges, she could see herself in a lot of trouble, being charged with a felony that can carry a 20-year prison sentence.
The Capitol riots are still making headlines across the world spawning startling developments by the day. In the aftermath, there have been questions raised over the sort of punishment that detained rioters could face. This also includes the fate of “Elizabeth from Knoxville, one of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and identified herself by the same name on camera. The clip went viral and garnered public outrage after he said she was “maced” by the Capitol police.
Should Elizabeth be detained and brought up on federal sedition charges, she could see herself in a lot of trouble being charged with a felony that can carry a 20-year prison sentence. Talking to MEAWW, former prosecutors and a civil rights attorney commented on what happens next as law enforcement identifies the people responsible for the riots. According to former Los Angeles County prosecutor David Fleck, there was all the evidence that was needed from Elizabeth.
“With Elizabeth from Knoxville, they’re got all the evidence they need on tape. Prosecuting her will be simple if they want to do it. However, this isn’t a simple law enforcement decision, it’s also a political one,” he said. “These charging decisions will be made at the highest political level, because there are politics involved in the decision whether to prosecute everybody or, simply make an example of a few. They will also consider the likelihood that prosecutions may further inflame the situation. But they will certainly comb through the video and find the worst actors.”
Trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani opined: “The government can and should identify and prosecute everyone who unlawfully entered the Capitol building. The District of Columbia is not a state and exclusively the jurisdiction of the federal government, so all cases will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
He also added: “Law enforcement and our democracy are literally under attack, so it is important for prosecutors to indict all those responsible for the January 6 riots. In fact, the Federal Anti-Riot Act specifically directs the Attorney General to proceed “as speedily as possible” in prosecuting rioters, and I expect that to happen in this case.”
However, there also comes the question of how many could also be detained and prosecuted considering the volume of people at the riots. “Maybe this individual, and one or two others, will be prosecuted as an example, but there were thousands of people there. I hope the government has the courage to do what needs to be done and to not kowtow to racists, bigots or extremists. Because that’s who these people were, and they should be treated accordingly,” felt Los Angeles civil rights attorney, DeWitt Lacy.
“For one or two people being prosecuted, I don’t really grasp the significance of that. You have to start at the top. We have someone in the White House and people in Congress who are continually inciting violence. If Congress had any backbone at all they would begin the impeachment process right away,” Lacy explained.
“I think part of the problem is that we have this tremendous racial strife in this country, and that’s what this stems from. We haven’t really been acknowledging the problem for what it is. We blame it on Fox News doing spin, or Black Lives Matter. It has nothing to do with that – call it what it is.”
On Wednesday (January 6), Elizabeth affirmed she was trying to go inside the Capitol. “I put a foot inside, and they pushed me,” she added. “My name is Elizabeth from Knoxville, Tennessee,” she identified. When asked why she wanted to go in, she replied, “We wanted to storm the Capitol. It’s a revolution”.