Prosecutors want Capitol riot defendants to pay for damages

A shattered window at the Capitol.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The U.S. attorney's office in Washington has determined that the Jan. 6 riot caused nearly $1.5 million in damages to the Capitol, and in their plea agreements, some defendants are being asked to foot part of the bill for repairs.

On Wednesday, one of the defendants, 38-year-old Paul Hodgkins of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty to one felony count of storming the Capitol to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election. In a plea agreement letter sent to Hodgkins and his attorney last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky wrote that Hodgkins acknowledged $1,495,326.55 worth of damage had been caused to the Capitol during the riot, and he agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Treasury Department.

Several defense attorneys working with riot defendants told The Washington Post the U.S. attorney's office wants to require $2,000 restitution for each felony case and $500 for each misdemeanor case. One of the attorneys wasn't sure if a judge could sentence someone to pay restitution if they were not actually charged with causing the damage, but the Post says prosecutors seem to be arguing that anyone who participated in the riot at any point should have to pay.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Rioters shattered windows and broke doors, art, and furniture, with additional damage caused by fire extinguishers that left behind residue. Prosecutors did not say how they came to the $1.5 million estimate. A spokeswoman for the Architect of the Capitol told the Post the agency delivered damage assessments to the Justice Department, and they calculated the penalties.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.