DOJ lawyer gives stinging rebuke to Republicans who are 'lionizing' Capitol rioters: report

On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that the Justice Department is warning Republican lawmakers to stop "lionizing" the perpetrators of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

'In a Monday court filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Romano wrote that chances of violence and instability to come are being 'fueled by a segment of the population that seems intent on lionizing the January 6 rioters and treating them as political prisoners, heroes, or martyrs instead of what they are: criminals, many of whom committed extremely serious crimes of violence, and all of whom attacked the democratic values which all of us should share,'" reported A. J. McDougall.

According to the report, "Romano's statement was folded into a 28-page document endorsing the pretrial detention of a Jan. 6 defendant charged with destruction of property and assaulting Capitol police."

A number of Republican lawmakers have expressed sympathy for the Capitol rioters.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) said that they looked like normal tourists, even though footage at the time showed him frantically trying to barricade himself against the crowd.

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who has frequently been accused of promoting white supremacy, has sought to martyrize Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot while trying to force her way through a window, claiming she was "executed" and even wearing an armband with her name.

And others, like Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have baselessly claimed the handful of rioters who were denied bond are "political prisoners."