Updated: US Attorney Denies DC Mayor's Accusations

Updated (Sept 1, at 4:10 p.m.): This story was updated to include U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin's response to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, which was posted on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

WASHINGTON, DC — The office of Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, issued a response Monday to accusations leveled by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, saying the office was not prosecuting suspects charged for causing violence at recent peaceful demonstrations.

"When we make arrests for violent protests, we need those violent agitators to be prosecuted," Bowser said, during a Monday press briefing. "When we arrest people for felony charges, we need the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is a federal appointee of the president, to prosecute them. Right now, there's no accountability for the people who came to these protests and attacked our police."

As of Sunday, 68 felony warrants are awaiting processing by the U.S. Attorney's Office, including three assaults on Metropolitan Police Department officers, Bowser said. Two of those charges were submitted in June and one in July. Some of the warrants dated back to November 2019.

On Monday evening, Bowser posted a letter addressed to Sherwin on her official Twitter account.

"As with violent crime generally, the vast majority of violent destructive acts conducted under the guise of First Amendment assemblies are committed by very few individuals, particularly in comparison to the thousands who demonstrate peacefully," Bowser wrote in the letter. "Thus, it is critical that when these violent offenders are taken into custody, their cases are prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law. That is why I was dismayed that your office declined to prosecute 41 of the 42 rioting arrests made on August 13 and 14. Indeed, since May 30, the Metropolitan Police Department has submitted 63 affidavits in support of arrest and search warrants directly related to criminal activities conducted under the guise of First Amendment assemblies."

According to Bowser's letter, 28 of these warrants were declined, and 24 remain under review by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

On Friday and Saturday, eight individuals were arrested for assault, according Bowser. A number of MPD officers had been hospitalized as a result of these assaults.

"From Saturday afternoon through early this morning, the Metropolitan Police Department made another 19 arrests, 14 of which were for felony rioting," Bowser wrote. "The rioters damaged more property, and injured more officers. I am told that prosecuting decisions in these cases are still pending." She went on to urge Sherwin to move forward with these cases.

MPD does their part to protect residents and visitors. We need our prosecutors to do theirs. pic.twitter.com/FU39f9ZA6F
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) August 31, 2020

The statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office denied Bowser's accusations and said that it had "aggressively charged" 121 criminal cases from May 28 to Aug. 1, some involving assault and battery on local police officers and federal agents.

"Mayor Muriel Bowser’s public statement today related to the United States Attorney’s Office reluctant to prosecute '68 outstanding arrest warrants' is patently false and serves no purpose other than to pass blame and foster innuendo," the statement said. "Since the protests began, this Office has never turned down a single case for prosecution in which there was sufficient evidence to support probable cause."

The statement went on to say the U.S. Attorney's Office had brought charges against five persons linked to protest-related violence over this past weekend, including two involving assaults on law enforcement officers.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sherwin posted a letter in response to Bowser's letter on his office's official Twitter account. In it, he says the record refutes the mayor's criticism His office has worked closely with MPD since violence erupted in late May to charge more than 125 criminal cases — the most of any U.S. Attorney's office nationwide.

"Those cases include defendants charged with violent assaults on police officers and civilians, breaking and entering public and private property, arson, and the destruction of federal property and monuments," Sherwin said, in the letter. "With the assistance of ATF and the FBI, the United States Attorney's Office continues to investigate additional criminal cases from that time period and expects additional persons charged in the near future."

U.S. Attorney Sherwin's Response to Mayor Bowser's August 31, 2020 Letter pic.twitter.com/kZnpAUpESi
— U.S. Attorney DC (@USAO_DC) September 1, 2020

In regard to the criticism that his office had failed to "prosecute 41 or 42" rioters on Aug. 13-14, Sherwin said MPD's arresting documents "lacked sufficient probable cause to support any criminal charge." He added that the "42 rioters" had been presented to his office without "articulable facts" linking each of the individuals to criminal conduct.

"Simply put, we cannot charge crimes on the basis of mere presence or guilt by association," he said. "I immediately met with MPD leadership on August 15th to discuss the matter and request their assistance to further develop these cases to establish a bare minimum of probable cause. To date, no sufficient evidence has materialized."

Concerning the 19 arrests from last weekend, Sherwin said MPD had failed to provide a bare minimum of "articulable facts" linking the charged persons with individual criminal conduct. In only one case was that bare minimum met and an individual charged.

"Your further claim we are not 'holding accountable' criminals who assault police officers, and cite eight arrests by MPD on August 27-28, 2020 as an example," Sherwin said. "This is patently incorrect — the United States Attorney's Office charged four of the five criminal cases presented to us (three of which were charged with assaults on police officers); the remaining three cases were never presented to the Office because MPD issued citations to these persons and released them without presentation."

Sherwin acknowledged the difficult job MPD officers face in ensuring the safety of the community. To that end, U.S. Attorney General William Barr has convened a working session with leadership from MPD and the U.S. Attorney's Office on Wednesday, according to the letter. Bowser is invited to attend.

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