At least four people have died as a result of the mayhem at the Capitol, one of whom was shot to death. If a Certain Person were found guilty of inciting the mob violence, would the felony murder rule apply regarding the ensuing deaths?
Since we do not know the exact circumstances regarding the deaths, this requires speculation and so is better suited to IMHO than GQ. Moved.
I don’t think we will see anyone charged with a felony until after 12:01 on January 20th. But IMHO yes, felony murder would apply here and also complicity to commit felony murder should apply to the person(s) who incited the riot.
I was wondering this myself earlier. I found an article that explains why the federal felony murder rule probably doesn’t apply in the case of the Capitol riot. There are only a handful of underlying felonies that can trigger the federal felony murder rule, and none of them are particularly good matches for the deeds perpetrated the people who incited the riot or the people who participated in the riot, so far as we know the facts.
The article was written before Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries sustained during the riot, but I don’t think that changes anything. Naturally the person or persons who actually attacked Sicknick can still be prosecuted for murder.
Great find, thanks.
That article mentions that the felony rule only applies if someone in the mob commits murder. The police officer’s death now removes that issue.
Also, many of the people in the mob have social media posts that say they either want to kidnap or kill either Pence or member of Congress. The fact they said it before becomes evidence they attempted those crimes. Both of which are in the list of crimes that are upgraded to murder when someone dies.
Does attempt qualify for felony murder under federal law?
According to the article linked above it does. That’s all I know.