One of the high-level January 6 defendants is on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his detention, and has been threatened with force-feeding by correctional officers, according to a lengthy filing with a federal court in Washington, D.C. by defense attorneys.
The filing by lawyers for Edward "Jake" Lang, highlighted by CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane, details his experience at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn. Lang is charged with attacking police officers with a baseball bat during the storming of the U.S. Capitol, and has been awaiting trial in lockup for over 1,200 days.
"As will be explained, the jail infraction system, especially at the Brooklyn MDC jail is broken, and if the jail wanted to charge and find an inmate guilty of possessing a ham sandwich – they easily can do so within minutes, not even hours," stated the filing. "Also, all communication with lawyers there that needs to be conducted for Lang’s defense is non-privileged because its so heavily monitored – there is no level playing field."
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"Lang has been under these conditions for at least a week now, and all that I can report is that Lang took issue with his most recent, untrue infraction, that he has been on a hunger strike, and has not received nourishment in seven days," said the filing. "Brooklyn MDC ‘s response is to threaten Lang that his water will be shut off, so he will be unable to shower or have proper hygiene. Brooklyn MDC’s next threat is to take a hose and stuff it down his throat, so Lang can at least be forced to have water."
This comes amid reporting that Lang has been trying to form an armed militia outside of jail to police "civil unrest" surrounding the 2024 election, an effort for which he claims he has already recruited around 20,000 people — although experts believe he's actually recruited about one-tenth that number.
Lang, and several other defendants, could have their cases affected by an upcoming Supreme Court decision in Fischer v. United States, where another January 6 defendant is arguing that obstruction of Congress charges cannot apply to people who rioted at the Capitol.