Two lawyers revealed that United States authorities punished alleged Capitol protestors on January 6 by placing them in conditions that violate basic human rights, a report says.
As per The Epoch Times' introduction for last Saturday's episode of The Nation Speaks, there are almost 500 people charged in various cases in line with the breach of the U.S. Capitol last January 6. Of those charged, there are dozens detained in federal prison even before their trial.
Lawyers John Pierce and Steven Metcalf II guested in the said episode and discussed the inhuman conditions the alleged U.S. Capitol protestors are experiencing while in detention.
Those detained say they are experiencing "Third World treatment" that includes lack of access to clean drinking water and required medical care, solitary confinement, and "restricted access to defense counsel."
"(There) are about 50, plus or minus, that are being detained, that have been in prison for months and will likely remain in prison for many more months until their day in court," The Western Journal quoted Pierce in saying during the interview.
"The conditions in the D.C. jail in particular are getting to a point of not only being unconstitutional and violating every single basic human right, but they're getting to a point where people have to speak out, and they have to know about what's going on," Metcalf added.
Metcalf said a "level of fear" is being inflicted on the detainees who are punished when they speak out on the inhumane conditions of their imprisonment.
"They are being retaliated against for various different reasons," Metcalf revealed. "Anything that they do, or if anybody speaks up on their behalf, all of a sudden they get targeted even further and then get put into a dangerous, unsanitary condition."
The Nation Speaks also guested Ned Lang, the father of detainee Jake Lang, to support the statements of the two lawyers. Lang said his son is being imprisoned in some undisclosed jail in Washington D.C. called "the hole."
Metcalf is Lang's lawyer who said disclosed during the interview the deprivation of his client from clean drinking water and from regular bathing, which happens "days and days on end."
"I'm being told the water is black. He has to filter the water through a sock in order to even drink water," Metcalf recounted.
The Western Journal said the lawyers explained the alleged U.S. Capitol protestors are being detained prior to the scheduled trial of their cases because of the 1984 Bail Reform Act imposed on them. The said law is put in place when the accused is considered a threat to the public or when there is a possibility the accused will escape such as flying out of the country.
In their report, The Western Times cited the case of Richard Barnett who also experienced unconstitutional detainment due to the 1984 Bail Reform Act. Barnett surrendered to the government for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot, being caught in photos sitting behind the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that day.
Barnett was detained for four months while waiting for his trial and was only freed after being petitioned to. Barnett's lawyer, Joseph McBride pointed out in an interview with The Epoch Times that such a detainment was too long for the 1984 Bail Reform Act, which stipulates a limited time of pre-trial imprisonment, making it unconstitutional.
"The law is clear: Only in a very limited set of circumstances is pretrial detention acceptable. The courts, therefore, must act swiftly and decisively to overturn pretrial detention orders granted in circumstances, such as here, where the government has objectively failed to overcome the Bail Reform Act's presumption against pretrial detention as a matter of law," McBride said.
