trespassing charges against Colbert team dropped after Capitol incident, #Trespassing #charges #Colbert #team #dropped #Capitol #incident Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Nine people who work for Stephen Colbert’s The late show will not be prosecuted by officials after being arrested for tresspass in a congressional building last month.
The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) said Monday that the U.S. law firm for the District of Columbia declined to prosecute the nine staffers previously held at the Longworth House Office Building.
“The United States Capitol Police have just learned that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is refusing to prosecute the case. We respect the decision made by the agency,” the police said in a statement.
“The USCP arrested nine people for unauthorized entry because members of the group were told several times before entering the congressional buildings that they must remain in the buildings with a staff* and they did not.”
The show’s production team included Robert Smigel, a puppeteer who is the voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
The team interviewed politicians after the third public hearing by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The staffers were “unaccompanied and without congressional ID” on the sixth floor of the building, which was closed to the public at the time.
In a statement, the US law firm said the decision not to prosecute them was made after “extensive review of all evidence and the relevant legal authority”.
“The individuals, who entered the building twice, were each time invited by congressional staff to enter the building and were never asked to leave by the staffers who invited them, although members of the group had been told at various points by the US Capitol Police that they should have a *.”
“The Bureau would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these invitees were guilty of the offense of unlawful entry because their *chose to leave them unattended.”
Colbert addressed the incident on his show on June 20.
“Thursday night, after they finished their interviews, [my staff] were doing some last-minute puppetry and jokes in a hallway when Triumph and my parents were approached and detained by the Capitol Police, which isn’t surprising,’ he said.
“The Capitol Police Department is much more cautious than they were 18 months ago and for a very good reason. If you don’t know what that reason is, I know which news channel you’re watching.”