Senator Ron Johnson warns of 'unequal administration of justice' after claiming Capitol riot suspects sit in jail while BLM and antifa protesters are released

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Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has claimed that an 'unequal administration of justice' is being applied to the suspects of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol versus those involved in Black Lives Matter protests across the country last spring and summer.

Johnson, who's also a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, shared his thoughts with Mark Levin on his Fox News talk show 'Life, Liberty & Levin' on Friday.

'This is highly alarming,' Johnson said, speaking to Mark Levin. 'Every American should be concerned when we see the unequal administration of justice.'

Johnson asserted that President Biden and the media ignore the damage caused at Black Lives Matter protests and want to 'sweep that under the rug' and just focus on the insurrection. He added that he condemns the insurrection and believes those who breached the capitol violently should be 'prosecuted to the full extent of the law.'

Republican Senator Ron Johnson (right) spoke with Mark Levin on his Fox News talk show 'Life, Liberty & Levin,' about an alleged 'unequal administration of justice' being applied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot suspects

'But I don't want the media and I don't want Democrats and politicians painting with a broad brush that just because, you know, a hundred or a couple of hundred people assaulted law enforcement, that somehow 75 million Americans that voted for Donald Trump are somehow suspected domestic terrorists,' he said.

In February, Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed in a statement that he would 'supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.'

Last week, Johnson and fellow Republican senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rick Scott and Tommy Tuberville signed a letter they sent to Garland demanding that the justice department re-evaluate its treatment of the insurrectionists. 

Thousands of rioters broke through barricades of the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and forced Congress to evacuate

Some of their concerns were that the riot suspects were sitting in jail and being held in solitary confinement, while they said Black Lives Matter protesters and antifa were able to walk free after protests last year. 

'During the spring and summer of 2020, individuals used peaceful protests across the country to engage in rioting and other crimes that resulted in loss of life, injuries to law enforcement officers, and significant property damage,' the letter reads. 'Despite these numerous examples of violence occurring during these protests, it appears that individuals charged with committing crimes at these events may benefit from infrequent prosecutions and minimal, if any, penalties.'

'DOJ's apparent unwillingness to punish these individuals who allegedly committed crimes during the spring and summer 2020 protests stands in stark contrast to the harsher treatment of the individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.'

The letter continues to decry the justice department's database of defendants charged with crimes committed at the Capitol on Jan. 6. 'No such database exists for alleged perpetrators of crimes associated with the spring and summer 2020 protests,' the letter reads.

Protesters in Louisville, Kentucky, took to the streets to denounce police brutality on September 23, 2020

They also added to the letter nine questions about the justice department's handling of capitol riots and asked the same nine questions about its response to the spring and summer 2020 protests. Such questions asked how many individuals committed crimes, how many were arrested for committing crimes, how many were arrested using pre-dawn raids and SWAT teams and how many were offered deferred resolution agreements, among others.

To date, roughly 465 people have been arrested in connection to breaching security at the Capitol in an effort to disrupt the Electoral College from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In 2020, law enforcement agencies made more than 14,000 arrests related to Black Lives Matter protests.

Johnson has long drawn controversy over his comments about the Capitol riots, claiming in March that he did not feel at all threatened by the mob of Trump supporters, but would have been if they were Black Lives Matter or antifa.

Johnson once said that he did not feel at all threatened by the mob of Trump supporters, but would have been if they were Black Lives Matter or antifa

During the interview he stated that he did not believe what was happening to be an armed insurrection. 'Now, had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election, and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.'

His comments were met with fury by CNN host Don Lemon who accused the senator of 'spewing blatant racism.'

'Did you hear him? He wasn't afraid of those people. Maybe 'cause they're white? Not maybe. That's the reason. Because if they were black, he would be afraid of them. He said they support law enforcement. Even though they beat up officers, one officer died, one suffered a heart attack, and they were beating them with blue lives matter flags,' Lemon countered.

Law enforcement officials said in court filings last month that guns, bombs and other weapons were found on people and in the vehicles of those who stormed the Capitol. The insurrectionists also used flag poles, stolen police shields, crutches, fire extinguishers, sticks and other everyday objects to attack police officers and force entry into the Capitol.