Ted Cruz under fire for calling arrests of Capitol rioters ‘persecution’

Republican Senator Ted Cruz is under fire for arguing that some participants in the Capitol riot should be spared prosecution.

Mr Cruz told HuffPost that people who "assaulted a police officer" should spend "a long, long time in jail”, but balked at criminal charges for participants who entered the Capitol but did not harm anyone.

“If, on the other hand, the Biden administration is targeting and persecuting people for exercising political speech that is nonviolent and simply expressing their peaceful support for a political party different from that in power, that is not the purpose of our criminal justice system,” he said.