On Wednesday, NBC4 Washington's Scott MacFarlane — one of the key journalists covering the cases against the January 6 Capitol insurrectionists — reported that a "caravan of protesters" has been gathering at the D.C. jail on "multiple Sunday afternoons" to demand the release of the defendants currently being held pending trial.
MacFarlane also provided a video of one of these protesters ranting against Biden and suggesting the rioters are "political prisoners."
In response to a question what they were protesting, the man said, "The injustice of the political prisoners of Joe Biden. We're here to help free the POB — the Prisoners of Biden." When asked if he knows any of the rioters, he said, "Not personally, no," and confirmed that he had traveled all the way from Idaho to join the protest.
Contrary to the claims that Capitol rioters are being singled out for persecution, they have actually been granted pretrial release at a far higher rate than average — 70 percent of them were released pending trial, versus just 25 percent for all federal prisoners.
Many of those who are still in jail are there because they were charged with particularly serious crimes like assaulting Capitol Police, or were re-arrested on other offenses, including a rioter who allegedly strangled a family member and one who illegally stockpiled guns.
Watch below:
So\u2026.. this was one of the people at a recent protest outside DC jail seeking release of Jan 6 defendants.pic.twitter.com/IYz2fsZp4V— Scott MacFarlane (@Scott MacFarlane) 1630528311
