January 6 rioters want the Supreme Court to let them off the hook from obstruction charge

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday from a former Pennsylvania police officer who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a case that could undermine federal charges against more than 350 rioters.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday from a former Pennsylvania police officer who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a case that could undermine federal charges against more than 350 rioters. The court’s decision could also have significant ramifications for former President Donald Trump, who was charged with the same criminal offense. Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with violating a federal law enacted in 2002 that prohibits people from obstructing an “official proceeding.” Prosecutors filed that same charge against hundreds of rioters, such as the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” who climbed the Senate chamber’s dais in horned headdress, and the leader of the Oath Keepers, who had championed a “bloody civil war” in the weeks before the riot. The charge can add up to 20 years to a prison sentence. Now, the Supreme Court will consider whether the prosecutors’ interpretation of the law can be used against the rioters and whether the convictions already secured will stick. Trump would almost certainly use a decision against the government to fuel criticism he has directed at prosecutors as he has tried to reframe the January 6 attack on the Capitol as a “beautiful day.”