FBI Worked Over 16,000 More Hours Around Jan. 6 Than After BLM Riots in Washington, DC
FBI agents worked over 16,000 more hours in the two-week pay period surrounding the Capitol incursion on Jan. 6, 2021, than during Black Lives Matter/antifa riots in Washington, D.C., in late May and early June 2020.
The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project obtained payroll records through a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI’s D.C. field office showing that agents worked 86,262 hours from Jan. 4 to Jan. 17, 2021, versus 70,367 hours during the May 25 to June 7, 2020, pay period.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died in police custody, sparking protests and riots in D.C. and around the country. The riots resulted in 19 deaths and up to $2 billion in property damage.
FBI Payroll records show agents in WFO worked 86,262 hours from the Jan 4-17, 2021 pay period. Compared with the May 25-June 7, 2020 pay period (when BLM riots began in DC) WFO agents worked 70,367.25 hours.
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) March 20, 2023
The Daily Signal reported, “It was on May 29, 2020, at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., that rioters gathered near the White House and set fire to the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. The violence outside the White House prompted the Secret Service to move [then-President Donald] Trump and others into the White House bunker.”
Crazed ‘social justice’ mobs in #WashingtonDCRiots have set fire to historic landmark St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, a Greek Episcopal church built in 1816…#GeorgeFloyd #Minneapolis #riots2020 pic.twitter.com/7g1GTY0JkA
— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) June 1, 2020
“In the first week of the 2020 riots, about 150 local and federal law enforcement officers were injured in the District of Columbia,” the news outlet added.
The Secret Service said in a May 31, 2020, statement regarding the violence outside the White House, “Some demonstrators repeatedly attempted to knock over security barriers, and vandalized six Secret Service vehicles.”
WOW pic.twitter.com/3MKOtWktK7
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) June 1, 2020
“Between Friday night and Sunday morning, more than 60 Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers and Special Agents sustained multiple injuries from projectiles such as bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks and other items,” the statement continued.
On May 29, 2020, BLM rioters forced President Trump into the White House bunker and burned a historic church. During the first week of the 2020 riots, 150 local & federal LEOs in DC were injured. The summer 2020 riots led to $2 billion in property damage & killed at least 19 pic.twitter.com/4gZfEYgUyZ
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) March 20, 2023
“Secret Service personnel were also directly physically assaulted as they were kicked, punched, and exposed to bodily fluids. A total of 11 injured employees were transported to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries,” the Secret Service said.
Protesters tear down barricades outside the White House #GeorgeFloydprotest pic.twitter.com/uvPKGzeMGo
— Evy Mages (@EvyMages) May 30, 2020
USA Today reported that D.C. police arrested 17 people, most of whom were charged with rioting.
Overall, police said 106 people were arrested in protests around the District that weekend, according to The Washington Post.
But the Post went on to note that although “many of those arrested were charged by police with felony rioting, that charge was dropped by prosecutors in most cases.”
By contrast, the FBI has conducted early-morning raids around the country, arresting many who engaged in no violence on Jan. 6 while protesting the 2020 election, but were merely on the Capitol grounds.
Mike Howell, director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, told The Daily Signal the difference between how the FBI and the Department of Justice treated the Jan. 6 defendants and the BLM and antifa rioters is stunning.
“It’s clear the FBI and Justice Department have been weaponized,” Howell said. “These numbers show the lengths they will go to to surge resources towards nonviolent offenses that fit their political narratives.”
According to USA Today, federal prosecutors have charged nearly 950 people in 48 states with participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion.
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the Jan. 6 investigation is the biggest in U.S. history and is only about half over. Prosecutors expect the total number ultimately charged will be between 1,600 and 2,100.
A version of this article originally appeared on Patriot Project.
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