In another of President Trump’s day-one executive orders, he offered pardons or commuted the sentences of every January 6 rioter. Every single one. These include:
- Enrique Tario, Proud Boys leader, serving 22 years for seditious conspiracy,
- David Dempsey, serving 20 years for attacking law enforcement with his hands, flagpoles, broken furniture, pepper spray and anything else he could get his hands on,
- Stuart Rhodes, Proud Boys founder, serving 18 years for seditious conspiracy,
- Ethan Nordean, Proud Boys Seattle area chapter president, serving 18 years for acting as the undisputed leader on the ground during the attack,
- Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boys organizer from Ormond Beach, Florida, serving 17 years for seditious conspiracy and other felonies,
- Zachary Rehl, a leader of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter, serving 15 years, for seditious conspiracy and other felonies,
- Dominic Pezzola, serving 10 years for smashing a window at the U.S. Capitol in the building’s first breach,
- Christopher Worrell, serving 10 years for assaulting police with a deadly and dangerous weapon and other felony counts,
- Thomas Webster, a retired New York police officer, serving 10 years after assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole and attempting to rip off his gas mask.
- Shane Jenkins, serving 84 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release for shattering a Capitol window and hurling several objects at police, including a solid wooden desk drawer, a flagpole, a metal walking stick and a broken wooden pole which he launched like a javelin.
- Julian Khater, serving 80 months for aiming pepper spray at officers Brian Sicknick, Caroline Edwards, and others,
- and around 1500 more who were found or pled guilty to offenses ranging from misdemeanors to major felonies.
That attack injured more than 140 law enforcement professionals and ended several careers. Five died as a result of what happened that day. These include:
- Officer Brian Sicknick – natural causes from two strokes caused by a blood clot.
- Officer Howard Liebengood- suicide.
- Officer Jeffery Smith – suicide.
- Officer Gunter Hashida – suicide.
- Officer Kyle DeFreytag – suicide.
Trumpworld downplays all this, claiming no officers died that day. In Trump’s first sit-down interview after his inauguration, in the Oval Office with Sean Hannity of Fox News, Trump said, “And the other thing is this, some of those people with the police, true, but they were very minor incidents, okay, you know they get built up by that couple of fake guys that are on CNN all the time. They were very minor incidents.”
I challenge President Trump, or anyone from Trumpworld, to look the families of the injured and fallen officers in the eye and say that.
But wait, there’s more.
Many outside Trumpworld believe Trump offered pardons to seed a private army. But if this Axios story is true, the Trump private army might be an afterthought. Apparently, with the inauguration coming up fast, and with 1500 cases to review and decide, Trump said, “F*** it. Release ‘em all.” This is vintage Art of the Deal Trump. He trusts his spur-of-the-moment decisions more than any process that considers consequences. An army of acolytes looking for good seats at Mar-A-Lago drafted the order, Trump signed it, and now criminals who attacked law enforcement officers on Jan. 6, 2021 enjoy presidential pardons. And that’s how Trump gave law enforcement professionals and their families the finger.
This post would not be complete without also acknowledging the rioters who died. They died supporting a cult leader who convinced them were supporting their country. But they actually died supporting a lie. Which also makes them victims.
- Ashli Babbitt – killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to climb through a broken window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol.
- Kevin Greeson – suffered a heart attack standing on the west side of the Capitol while talking on the phone with his wife.
- Rosanne Boyland – QAnon believer, killed in a crush of fellow rioters trying to fight through a police line.
- Benjamin Philips – drove a van of fellow Trump supporters from their home state of Pennsylvania to Washington. Died of a stroke.
More than half of United States voters returned Trump to the White House in the 2024 election. Polls suggest support for law enforcement contributed to the Trump win. And now, a short few days into Trump’s second term, Trump supporters are faced with a choice. If you truly support law enforcement as much as you claim, then stand with the families of the injured and fallen law enforcement officers and publicly condemn Trump’s pardons. This will cost you. Trumpworld will call you a liberal. Or a RINO. They’ll say you suffer from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), and you’re part of the problem and not the solution, and they’ll isolate you socially. They’ll behave just like any cult when a cult member questions cult dogma.
Or follow the easy path. Look the other way and tacitly approve Trump giving law enforcement families the finger.
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