The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a defense claim used by a January 6 defendant, setting up a likely Supreme Court appeal that could have major implications on a common charge the Biden Department of Justice has used on more than 2,000 protesters. The Biden DOJ has vowed to lock up more than 2,000 protesters — most of whom are charged with common trespassing misdemeanors — by January 2026. The department has continued to make arrests — generally causing defendants to lose their livelihoods over common trespassing misdemeanors — nearly four years after the minor disturbance while refusing to charge left-wing protesters with the same offenses.
The Supreme Court has already slapped down two novel legal theories used by Biden DOJ prosecutors to charge non-violent January 6 trespassers with felonies.
The Biden DOJ has vowed to lock up more than 2,000 protesters — most of whom are charged with common trespassing misdemeanors — by January 2026.
The judges ultimately ruled that the law was aimed at “a small subset of trespassing offenses that implicate both the personal security of the most high-profile federal officials — and also, necessarily, the national security of the United States.” The lone dissent issued by Judge Gregory Katsas will increase the likelihood of the U.S. Supreme Court deciding to rule on the matter in the near future.
At the time of the mass trespassing event, Vice President Mike Pence was inside the Capitol Building to preside over electoral certification.
In a 2-1 ruling, Judges Cornelia Pillard and Judith Rogers determined that the trespassing law was established to increase security around Secret Service protectees.
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