Marshals Inspect D.C. Jail Conditions, Give OK After Jan. 6 Defendants' Complaints
After completing an inspection of the District of Columbia jail complex, the U.S. Marshals Service determined that suspects in the January 6 Capitol riot being held at the facility do not need to be removed, the Associated Press reported.
The suspects had complained about the jail's conditions, and a federal judge asked the Justice Department to conduct an investigation after holding the D.C. corrections director and jail warden in contempt.
The complex houses local and federal defendants who are set to go on trial. Though the Marshals determined that conditions in the facility where 30 January 6 suspects are being held are satisfactory, a secondary jail building was found to not meet the minimum standards. About 400 inmates from the facility will be transferred to another complex in Pennsylvania, federal officials said.
Christopher Geldart, Washington's deputy mayor for public safety and justice, described the federal officials' findings on the other jail building's conditions as "deeply concerning" in a statement. Local officials "regularly" work on structural repairs for the aging facility, he said.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Geldart said city officials were working with the federal government to obtain the Marshals Service's full report and have also asked for a copy of a recent inspection by the jail's independent oversight body as well.
"We take seriously the responsibility of caring for justice-involved DC residents and believe they should remain in DC," he said. "DOC leadership is evaluating moving inmates within the facility so that issues raised can be addressed efficiently and expeditiously."
Attorney General Merrick Garland had said during congressional testimony last month that the Marshals were conducting the inspection and the Justice Department was "conducting a review" of the conditions at the jail.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had summoned the jail officials to court last month in the case of Christopher Worrell, a member of the Proud Boys who has been charged in the January 6 attack who was delayed medical care for a broken wrist. He had been recommended for surgery in June but still hadn't undergone the procedure as of mid-October, in part due to a delay by jail officials in turning over medical documents.
Worrell has been accused of attacking police officers with a pepper spray gel, and prosecutors have alleged he traveled to Washington and coordinated with Proud Boys leading up to the siege.
Other January 6 defendants held at the jail have decried what they say are deplorable conditions there.
More than 630 people have been charged in the January 6 riot, where thousands of pro-Trump supporters stormed the building in an effort to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden's victory.
