The Unconscionable Treatment of the January 6 Protesters

By J Robert Smith

  • Nov. 10, 2021
  • 1-min read

The DC jail isn’t Andersonville Prison, but its conditions have been long reputed as wretched.

This from Colbert I. King, The Washington Post, November 6:

The U.S. Marshals Service conducted an unannounced inspection and found evidence of “systemic” mistreatment of detainees, including unsanitary living conditions and the punitive denial of food and water. Inspectors found “large amounts of standing human sewage” in toilets in multiple cells, and cells that had been lacking water for days. Staff members “were observed antagonizing detainees” and “directing detainees not to cooperate.” One inmate was warned by a staffer to “stop snitching.”

The Marshals transferred 400 federal detainees out of the prison as a result of their findings. About 40 January 6 protesters remain confined there, however.

These detainees aren’t Union soldiers, who suffered incomprehensibly at Andersonville. 13,000 died in that hellhole. But suffer the jailed protesters are.

They may have broken laws on January 6, but weren’t part of an insurrection, which the FBI has conceded didn’t happen. Nonetheless, the protesters are treated like prisoners of war – worse, really. Islamic terrorists held at Guantanamo enjoyed more rights and better conditions there. These men aren’t violent offenders. They deserve bail and a day in court.

A plea for help was penned by Nathan DeGrave, who describes himself “as a non violent participant at the Jan 6th rally.” His letter catalogues the negligence and abuse occurring in the jail toward himself and the others.

Two groups have filed a formal complaint regarding the protesters’ mistreatment with the United Nations Human Rights Committee, demanding sanctions against Biden officials. That harkens back to the days when Western human rights groups sought sanctions against the Soviet Union for its mistreatment of political prisoners. The irony shouldn’t be lost on Americans of conscience.

But Democrats don’t care about detestable conditions at the jail. They don’t care about the maltreatment of prisoners. They don’t care that no insurrection occurred. They’re making a point: The power is theirs, and federal law enforcement can and will be brought to bear against anyone who defies them.

So, holding these protesters in a deplorable jail isn’t really about trespassing, property destruction, and assault (in the melee in the Capitol) – all of which can be disposed of though routine legal channels. It’s about laying down a marker: Challenge the paramountcy of the Democratic Party and face dire consequences. Democrats’ intent is to chill opposition.

If you haven’t watched Tucker Carlson’s excellent three-part documentary, “Patriot Purge” on Fox Nation, do so. It’s worth a subscription. It’s an education and warning: Tyranny has sunk roots here. If those roots aren’t pulled up, that tyranny will grow to choke to death our free society.


J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith and occasionally on Parler, again @JRobertSmith.

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