Just over 700 people have been arrested and charged with crimes dealing with the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol last Jan. 6.
While thousands traveled from 45 states to Washington D.C., Texas has the dubious distinction of having the second highest number of people arrested for their part in the attempt to overthrow a democratic election.
Sixty-three Texans have been arrested, according to .
Eleven of them have pleaded guilty, including Dallas resident Troy Smocks, who entered an agreement in October, pleading guilty to threats in interstate commerce. He was sentenced to 425 days in jail and three years of probation 鈥� the longest sentence among all charged Texans.
Also among those sentenced is former Houston police officer Tam Dinh Pham of Richmond, who was arrested in the weeks that followed the attack.
Pham allegedly entered the Capitol building after attending Former President Trump鈥檚 rally earlier that day. According to court documents, he initially denied any involvement in the riot, but backtracked after investigators searched through his 鈥渄eleted鈥� photos, where they found photos and videos 鈥渞eadily identifiable鈥� as being inside the Capitol building.
Jenna Ryan of Frisco reported to jail to serve a 60-day sentence on Dec. 31. The real estate agent publicly dismissed any threat of prosecution in March.
鈥淒efinitely not going to jail. Sorry I have blonde hair white skin a great job a great future,鈥� she wrote on . 鈥滻 did nothing wrong.鈥�
In a recent interview with , Ryan likened her experience to that of 鈥渢he Jews in Germany.鈥�
Austin resident Joseph Barnes, who was arrested in February after being accused of entering the Capitol building, died in a motorcycle accident in June. His case has since been dismissed.
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So far, the vast majority of charges in Texas鈥� arrests are misdemeanors related to entering the Capitol. San Antonio resident Matt Mozzocco is one of them. He pleaded guilty to illegally parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. He was sentenced to 45 days in prison and 60 months community service.
Jon Lewis, a Research Fellow at George Washington University鈥檚 Program on Extremism, said many traveled with friends and family to D.C. to disrupt the certification of President Biden鈥檚 victory, like the five members of the Munn family 鈥� who traveled from the small town of Borger, Texas.
鈥淲hether it's the Munn family or others this is something that mobilized not just individuals in ones or twos, but friends and family, which we have seen in literature as a driver of some of this radicalization,鈥� he said.
More troubling are cases like Steve Cappucio and David Judd 鈥� two Texans who didn鈥檛 seem to know each other but were propelled by the 鈥淏ig Lie鈥� 鈥� former President Donald Trump鈥檚 false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Cappucio and Judd allegedly attacked police officers with deadly weapons 鈥� hitting them with bats, batons, and stolen riot shields in a sort of medieval warfare.
鈥淚t speaks to the fact that domestic violent extremism in this country has gone mainstream,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淭hat these ideas that political violence at the U.S. Capitol against Capitol Police and Metro Police with the intent to get into the Capitol Building and prevent the certification of a democratic election is somehow okay.鈥�
Recent surveys show nearly three-quarters of the GOP believes the big lie 鈥� and it isn鈥檛 just that conspiracy that has gone mainstream: Anti government conspiracies, anti COVID conspiracies, critical race theory conspiracies.
The fringe is no longer the fringe, said Mary McCord 鈥� former U.S. Attorney and current director of Georgetown University's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. People can now say 鈥渕y congressman said this or my state legislators said that.
鈥淭hese are people in positions of power and privilege with a veneer of credibility that others who would otherwise be fringe are latching on to and using that as an empowerment to intimidate others,鈥� she said.
Now emboldened, radical elements of the GOP have turned their eyes towards the folks that count the votes, harassing people until they quit and replacing them with election deniers.
鈥淚f election deniers are going to refuse to certify the votes to the legitimate winner if it's not the winner they want,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hen our democracy is in serious trouble.鈥�
It is an election year in Texas and there is little chance you will hear the GOP talking about the importance of last year鈥檚 attack.
Unfortunately 鈥� extremism researchers say 鈥� downplaying the event is one of the worst things you can do.
Lucio Vasquez contributed to this report.
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