Monday newly inaugurated President Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 people accused of or convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The action immediately frees some rioters who were convicted of attacking officers, and that has angered some law enforcement organizations, supporters, and officers, especially the officers who were attacked.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Fraternal Order of Police issued a joint statement on pardons and commutations by both former President Joe Biden and President Trump.
“The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) have had long standing and positive relationships with both President Trump and President Biden and have greatly appreciated their support of the policing profession. However, the IACP and FOP are deeply discouraged by the recent pardons and commutations granted by both the Biden and Trump Administrations to individuals convicted of killing or assaulting law enforcement officers. The IACP and FOP firmly believe that those convicted of such crimes should serve their full sentences.
“Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety — they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law. Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.
“When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence.
“The IACP and FOP call on policymakers, judicial authorities, and community leaders to ensure that justice is upheld by enforcing full sentences, especially in cases involving violence against law enforcement. This approach reaffirms our commitment to the rule of law, public safety, and the protection of those who risk their lives for our communities,” it reads.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, said sparing rioters who assaulted police sent a wrong message, Yahoo reports.
"I saw an image today in my news clippings of the people who were crushing that police officer. None of them should get a pardon," Tillis told Reuters in a hallway interview. "You make this place less safe if you send the signal that police officers could potentially be assaulted and there is no consequence."
The Detroit Free Press identified several freed Michigan rioters as convicted of assault on officers. Justin Jersey, 34, of Flint, who was sentenced in September 2022 to more than four years in prison for knocking a police officer to the ground and then using his baton to hit another officer; Logan Barnhart, 44, of Lansing, who pleaded guilty to dragging an officer down the Capitol steps and later striking at officers with part of a flagpole; Matthew Krol, 66, of Linden, who was sentenced to more than four years after pleading guilty to wresting a baton from a law enforcement officer and hitting another with it; and Michael Foy, 33, of Wixom, sentenced in early 2024 to serve more than three years in prison for using a hockey stick to attack police officers, including one which had already fallen to the ground.
Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone was one of the officers who was assaulted by a rioter. He lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, Time reports.
Fanone said he has spent the past four years worried about his safety and the well-being of his family. Pardoning his assailants only compounds his fears, he said.
“I think they’re cowards,” he said. “Their strength was in their numbers and the mob mentality. And as individuals, they are who they are.”
Daniel Hodges, another Capitol Police officer who testified before Congress who still serves on the force, also responded to news of the pardons with disgust.
“Just worked about 14 hours making sure Trump’s inauguration was secure and peaceful, got home, read this. Thanks America,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
Video of Hodges being beaten and crushed in a door, his mouth full of blood while he cried out for help, went viral after the attacks, Yahoo reports.
