January 6 arrests slow in June but are still running far ahead of 2023, 2022 levels

The number of Jan. 6 arrests by the FBI cooled in June, but the totals for the first six months of 2024 are still running far ahead of the same period in 2023 and 2022, according to new figures from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the DOJ’s 42-month Jan. 6 report, the FBI arrested 15 people on Jan. 6 charges from June 6 through July 6, down from 33 arrests the previous month and 37 arrests from April to May.

The FBI has arrested 207 Jan. 6 protesters in the first six months of 2024, 42.5% ahead of the 119 arrests in the same period in 2023 and 37% ahead of the 130 arrests in 2022. The current year started with a marked increase in arrests, and the trend has continued overall since.

Arrest totals since early January 2021 stand at 1,472, up from 1,457 in June, 1,424 in May, and 1,387 in April, the DOJ reported.

The FBI has made 403 Jan. 6 arrests since July 2023 and 617 arrests since July 2022, according to DOJ data.

The most commonly charged misdemeanor count — entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds — has been used in 1,380 cases, or 94% of all Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Of those who have pleaded guilty to crimes, 68.5% were for misdemeanor charges.

The most common felony charge — corruptly obstructing an official proceeding — was listed in the previous report as affecting 355 cases. However, the DOJ has changed how it reports charged violations of 18 U.S. Code §1512(c)(2), no longer providing a cumulative total.

In the July report, the DOJ said 259 people were charged with obstruction of an official proceeding when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its June 28 ruling significantly curtailing possible use of the corporate fraud statute in Jan. 6 cases. Of those charged as of June 28, 133 have been sentenced, the report said.

The federal district court in Washington, D.C., has seen a flurry of motions from Jan. 6 defendants seeking re-sentencing, asking for release from custody, or moving to have their convictions vacated and sentences erased.

A Metropolitan Police Department officer’s bodycam shows the huge crowds gathered on the Lower West Terrace and West Plaza at the U.S. Capitol just before 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.D.C. Metropolitan Police Department

The high court said the 20-year felony charge could be used only if the defendant “impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or … other things used in the proceeding, or attempted to do so.”

The DOJ has based its charging of obstruction of an official proceeding on the delay in the joint session of Congress caused by protesters breaching the U.S. Capitol after the House and Senate paused their sessions due to the swelling crowds outside.

Jan. 6 defendants, those in prison and others on probation, hailed the ruling as a major victory, but the DOJ appears intent on making the charges stick even under the narrow interpretation of §1512(c)(2) by the Supreme Court.

More than 530 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, including 157 individuals charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, the report said.

Jan. 6 is the most sweeping investigation in FBI history.

Nearly 875 people have pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charges, 68.5% for misdemeanors and 31.5% for felonies.

Of those who pleaded guilty to felonies, 139 were charged with assaulting law enforcement officers. Another 76 defendants pleaded guilty to obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder. Of the combined 215 defendants, 80% were sentenced to prison terms as long as 151 months.

Nearly 185 defendants were found guilty at contested trials, and another 37 were convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts.

To date, 907 people have had their cases adjudicated and received their sentences, with 62% of defendants sentenced to incarceration, 19% to home detention, and 3.4% to a combination of the two.

Eighty-five people were charged with destruction of government property, and 65 defendants have been charged with theft of government property.

Jan. 6 is the largest, most sweeping investigation in FBI history — one that DOJ leaders say will continue unabated. The DOJ has until Jan. 6, 2026, to charge individuals before the statute of limitations expires.

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