ALBANY, N.Y. — Participants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol would be barred from holding office in New York under a new bill being introduced by state Sen. Brad Hoylman.
Unveiled on the second anniversary of the deadly siege, the Manhattan Democrat’s measure would block insurrectionists from serving as a member of the state legislature, an executive officer, or as a judge in the Empire State.
The Restrict Insurrectionists from Office Taking, or RIOT, Act would amend the New York’s public officers law and prohibit anyone convicted of rebellion or insurrection against the U.S. of holding civil office in the state.
“(This bill) will bar anyone who’s acted against the sanctity of our democracy from holding elected office and sends a strong message that violence is incompatible with government service,” Hoylman said. “We must continue to safeguard our democracy from the extremists attempting to destroy it.”
Supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol two years ago in a violent attempt to prevent the certification of the results of the 2020 election.
More than 960 people, including nearly 50 New Yorkers, have so far been charged with a range of crimes from disorderly conduct to assaulting police officers.
One rioter was shot and killed by police inside the Capitol while hundreds of officers sustained injuries during the insurrection. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick suffered a series of strokes and died of natural causes a day after the attack. The Washington medical examiner’s office determined that the events of the previous day “played a role in his condition.”
Four other police officers who responded to the riot died by suicide in the days and weeks following the attack.
A House committee that examined Trump’s role ahead of the insurrection issued a final report late last month that detailed how the twice impeached former president criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
Among the New Yorkers charged in relation to Jan. 6 was retired New York Police Department officer Thomas Webster, who was sentenced last September to 10 years in prison after being convicted of attacking a police officer with a flag pole during the siege.
Brooklyn plumber Daniel Christmann, who ran a failed bid for a state Senate seat in 2020, was also charged with breaching the Capitol. The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
