Rep. Watson Coleman Leads Letter to Acting Attorney General Calling for Consistency in Prosecution of January 6^th Insurrectionists

Washington, DC (February 5, 2021) – Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) lead 13 Members of Congress in a letter to Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson calling for the Department of Justice to consistently and appropriately weigh in on requests for bail and other pretrial processes in the cases of perpetrators of the January 6^th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Many of those who have been and will be charged in the assault on the Capitol are the clearest possible version of a public threat, yet have been allowed to return to their homes, or more incredible still, travel internationally. The letter identifies a contrast between the treatment of perpetrators who are white and the treatment of Black and Hispanic perpetrators in the insurrection, and further expresses concern that white privilege has led to extremely lenient pretrial treatment, particularly when these cases are compared with the treatment of minorities accused of other crimes.

The letter is signed by Kathrine Clark (MA-5), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Karen Bass (CA-37), Jesús G. “Chuy” Garcia (IL-4), Mark Takano (CA-41), Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Rick Larsen (WA-2), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Terri A. Sewell (AL-7), and Jahana Hayes (CT-5).

Text of the letter can be found here and attached to this email.