The investigation underway by the FBI and Department of Justice is reportedly wide in scope and includes shocking details into what happened on January 6 at the US Capitol building.
“People are going to be shocked by some of the egregious contact that happened in the Capitol,” acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin said in a press conference on Tuesday (January 12).
“I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about what happened within the Capitol, and it’s going to come into laser focus I think over the next weeks and days,” he said.
So far, the FBI and DOJ have opened 160 case files on individuals who participated in the deadly violence at the Capitol. Multiple arrests have also been made, including individuals captured in viral videos and photos committing federal offenses during the mob of Donald Trump supporters' attack.
Steven D’Antuono, the Assistant Director of the FBI Washington, D.C. Field Office said the arrests and case files already opened are just “the tip of the iceberg” of authorities’ investigation.
D’Antuono reported that the agency has received tens of thousands of digital tips on individuals who destroyed the building.
“The FBI is quite familiar with large-scale, complex investigations,” D’Antuono reassured, “We are up to the challenge.”
Sherwin added “The scope and the scale of this investigation into these cases are really unprecedented not only in FBI history but probably DOJ history in which essentially the Capitol groups outside and inside are essentially a crime scene.”
While the current FBI Director Christopher Wray was not present at the briefing, Sherwin promised their investigation would be thorough and told reporters to expect the numbers of arrests “to geometrically increase.”
Given the magnitude of the investigation, Sherwin noted the investigation “is not going to be solved in the coming months.”
Authorities have deployed “strike forces” to target specific areas of investigation, ranging from online and digital communications evidence before, during, and after the attack, to the financial records of individuals who were potentially involved in the planning of the mob’s violence.
Earlier this week, an FBI memo warned authorities at the local, state, and federal levels of forthcoming violence ahead of Trump’s departure and Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“The chatter is off the charts right now,” an official said, per CNN. The FBI reported that protests are planned at all 50 states’ capitol buildings, leaving many concerned for the width of violence that could take place.
As the House votes on a second impeachment of Trump for his role in the violence, the National Guard was deployed to protect the Capitol and lawmakers from violence spurred by the events of last week and throughout Trump's presidency.
Photos: Getty Images