A jailed Jan. 6 defendant is going on a hunger strike for the next three weeks, claiming he is being subjected to beatings and solitary confinement.
Jacob Lang, 26, has been imprisoned at the Washington, D.C., jail for a year following the riots over a year ago. The federal government claims he tried to strike Capitol police officers with a bat and a shield, while Lang says he is a patriot who saved a man’s life during the melee.
Lang called into Conservative Daily Podcast last week and said he would go on a hunger strike until his next court date on Feb. 23.
KNOWN CAPITOL RIOT LEADER SPENDS ONE DAY IN JAIL WHILE OTHERS LANGUISH IN ‘DC GULAG’
“I told my judge about these ridiculous rights violations, disgusting due process violations, constitutional rights being wiped away. And he didn’t even wince,” Lang said. “This court system in D.C., the DOJ is corrupt from top to bottom. The judges don’t care. If you wear the badge of a conservative or Trump supporter or libertarian and you go to court in D.C., you are going to get screwed. If you are liberal or Black Lives Matter or antifa … you get out with a wrist slap and leniency.”
Lang said Jan. 6 inmates are taking plea deals under duress because the system is “purposely set up here to make you break and plead guilty.”
He described being punched in the stomach for singing the national anthem and receiving two 350-calorie meals a day, up to 1,000 calories if he buys items from the commissary. He also said he had been placed in the “hole,” or solitary confinement, for complaining about his conditions.
“I’ve spent five months in this ridiculous solitary disgusting confinement here that goes against everything that’s American,” Lang told the podcast.
Lang listed three demands to end the hunger strike: a bipartisan investigation into the deaths of two protesters on Jan. 6, allowing nonviolent prisoners to be freed pending trial, and fixing what he considers a dual justice system that doesn’t mete out similar punishment for Black Lives Matter and antifa rioters.
“I will be starving myself until they start investigating,” Lang said. “I’m going to be hunger striking to bring media attention. I will be injuring my own body to make it known none of us have a criminal history.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Lang with eight criminal counts, including assault, using a deadly weapon, and obstruction.
“Lang swung, thrusted, and/or jabbed the bat at law enforcement officers multiple times. In doing so, Lang struck at least the shields the officers held in front of them,” a federal affidavit said. “Others in the crowd [assisted] in the attack, with some throwing items and one individual spraying the officers with a fire extinguisher.”
The charges were not discussed on the podcast, and Lang’s attorney did not return phone calls seeking comment.
According to the Justice Department, more than 225 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, at least 275 defendants have been charged with obstructing a congressional proceeding, and about 40 defendants face conspiracy-related charges.
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Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene toured the jail in November and wrote a report detailing a gulag-style existence in which inmates were denied showers, haircuts, attorney visits, and other legally mandated rights. Unsanitary conditions such as rats, bedbugs, mold, and the smell of feces were common, as were beatings and intimidation by guards, she said.
