Tag: violence
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson

Johnson Flip-Flops On Pardons For Violent January 6 Felons

After Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that January 6 rioters who committed acts of violence should not be let off the hook — he's standing by President Donald Trump's move to pardon hundreds of rioters, according to Politico.

Politico's Kyle Cheney reported via Bluesky, "This morning, Speaker Johnson said he won't 'second-guess' Donald Trump's pardons of Jan. 6 defendants and said 'We’re not looking backwards, we’re looking forwards.' Then he ordered up an investigation of the Jan. 6 committee."

Per Cheney's report, Johnson has "announced plans to appoint a new select subcommittee — led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) — to take aim at the work of the previous January 6 subcommittee that first" investigated the Capitol attack.

"The president’s made his decision; I don’t second guess those," the speaker said. "We move forward, there are better days ahead of us, that’s what we’re excited about."

Loudermilk, according to Cheney, had a different perspective.

The Georgia lawmaker "told reporters Wednesday that 'looking backwards' was a key aspect of the panel’s ability to make changes for the future."

Loudermilk added, "You’ve got to look backwards to look forward."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Sean Hannity

Fox Stars Said Don't Pardon Violent J6 Offenders, But Trump Did Anyway

Fox News stars have spent the months since President Donald Trump’s election assuring their audiences that Trump’s long-stated promise to pardon what he termed the “J6 hostages” would be limited only to nonviolent offenders who participated in storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. But on his first day in office, Trump pardoned or commuted to time served every person convicted in connection to their actions that day, including those who violently assaulted law enforcement and participated in seditious conspiracies.

Trump’s Tuesday night grant of clemency “to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack” includes pardons for “for violent offenders who went after the police on January 6 with baseball bats, two-by-fours, and bear spray and are serving prison terms, in some cases of more than a decade,” The New York Timesnoted. He also pardoned or commuted the sentences of several leaders of the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers who had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

This is precisely what Fox hosts and loyal Trump propagandists Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters explicitly said should not happen.

Numerous Fox personalities condemned the Trumpist violence at the Capitol in its immediate aftermath and called for the perpetrators to face consequences, even as they avoided assigning Trump culpability for encouraging the mob to come to D.C. and inciting it with lies about the 2020 election being stolen from him.

“Those who truly support President Trump … we do not support those that commit acts of violence,” Hannity said on his show that night, adding that people should not “be vandalizing our nation's Capitol, attacking the brave men and women that keep us safe in law enforcement,” and concluding that “all of today's perpetrators must be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

“I want to speak to the people that think it wasn't that big of a deal,” Watters said on The Five the next day. “Yes, you’re allowed, as a member of the public, to go into the people's house, but you have to go through the front door and you have to pass through a metal detector. You can't smash windows, spray police with chemical agents, assault police officers, loot, and vandalize.”

Over time, as Trumpists led by former Fox host Tucker Carlson challenged the initial consensus around the events of January 6 with a conspiratorial counternarrative that the rioters had been victims, the right came to excuse or downplay their crimes. But as Trump floated pardons for January 6 convicts, Hannity and Watters continued to maintain that violent offenders would not and should not receive clemency.

Asked by a listener on his December 3 radio broadcast about Trump potentially pardoning all January 6 convicts, including violent offenders, Hannity commented that some had received excessive sentences “for trespassing.” But he highlighted “the few people that were involved in violence against police, or whatever,” and said that “the people that are responsible for acting in ways that were absolutely irresponsible and law-breaking, they’ve got to be held accountable.”

“Donald Trump, he has said those people that did not commit acts of violence on January 6, is he's going to pardon them,” Hannity added two days later. “Why were they sentenced to five years in jail? Doesn't it seem, like, a little excessive?”

Watters has likewise repeatedly said that presidential pardons should be limited to nonviolent January 6 offenders. “If I were president, I don’t think I would pardon January 6ers who were slugging cops,” he told his Fox audience last December. In May 2023, he similarly advised Trump “to be careful here. You can't pardon anybody that committed an act of violence.”

How can Trump’s loyal propagandists square the circle between their own explicit statements that Trump should not pardon people convicted of attacking police officers and the reality that he did just that? One option appears to be simply lying about what he did.

“He made it clear, and JD Vance kind of doubled down on it — if you didn't attack officers, if there wasn't any actual violence and you were caught up within the system, you were overcharged, you’ve done enough time,” Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones said on Wednesday morning. “And promises made, promises kept on Day One.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump's 'Law And Order' Means Freeing Terrorists And Neo-Nazi Criminals

Trump's 'Law And Order' Means Freeing Terrorists And Neo-Nazi Criminals

Donald Trump is being slammed for granting pardons to more than 1,500 people who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. While Trump and other Republicans have frequently touted the Republican Party as the party of “law and order,” one of his first acts in the presidency gave a green light to the criminal element.

Trump’s pardon unravels hundreds of prosecutions that made their way through the Department of Justice and the criminal courts. Trump called the people who attacked Capitol police officers and were attempting to overturn the presidential election he lost “patriots” and “hostages” in the order.

Before taking office, Vice President JD Vance claimed that people who engaged in violence on January 6 would not be given a pass by Trump. “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” he told Fox News Sunday on January 12.

That turned out to be a lie.

Among those who will be released thanks to Trump’s actions is former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio. Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States and sentenced to 22 years in prison in September 2023. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, oversaw Tarrio’s case and found that he had engaged in an official act of terrorism. He is expected to be a free man soon.

Another figure helped by Trump’s action is Robert Keith Packer, who attacked the Capitol while wearing an antisemitic shirt reading “Camp Auschwitz,” referencing the infamous death camp where thousands of Jewish people were executed by Nazis during the Holocaust.

Former Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell, who served at the Capitol on Jan. 6, spoke out against Trump’s action.

“One of the first things that he does is pardon the criminals who nearly took my life,” Gonell told HuffPost. “It’s a desecration to our service and the sacrifices made to keep everyone safe. It’s a violation to our democracy and a disgrace to the title he holds once again.”

Gonell sent reporter Sam Stein photographs showing the pro-Trump mob attacking him on Jan. 6, as well as pictures depicting the serious injuries he received.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell sent me these pics of what happened to him on Jan. 6 as well as the injuries he endured that day

[image or embed]

— Sam Stein (@samsteindc.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM

Harry Dunn, another former Capitol Police officer, told the outlet, “This decision is a betrayal to the officers who were severely injured—and died—as a result of the insurrection. This decision puts Americans at risk as these violent criminals return to their communities. These pardons are a reflection of what abuse of power looks like and what we the people are bound to witness over the next four years.”

Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost criticized Trump’s pardons, writing, “President Trump pardons Nazi & white supremacist that tried to overthrow the government. Fascists look out for fascists.”

President Trump pardons Nazi & white supremacist that tried to overthrow the government. Fascists look out for fascists.

[image or embed]

— Maxwell Frost (@maxwellfrost.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 4:39 AM

One the same day Trump issued the pardons, his administration released an executive order purportedly showing his opposition to criminal activity, promising to restore the federal death penalty. He criticized former President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of 37 facing the federal death penalty and that his administration would take action to ensure that “these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.”

The administration also released a list of priorities claiming that crimes against law enforcement would be punished with the death penalty.

Simultaneously, Trump appointed conservative activist Ed Martin to serve as Washington, D.C.’s interim U.S. attorney. Martin served on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which advocated for the release of Jan. 6 offenders.

Despite the criticism from law enforcement and members of Congress, the administration continues to stand by the assistance Trump delivered to convicted criminals.

In an appearance on the pro-Trump Fox News Channel, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I don't think it's causing much controversy.” She later added, “President Trump is restoring faith in our justice system.”

Brian Kilmeade: Does that have anything to do with President Trump pardoning all the J6ers, which is causing some controversy? Trump spox Karoline Leavitt: I don't think it's causing much controversy! ... President Trump is restoring faith in our justice system.

[image or embed]

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM

Trump is the first convicted felon to be elevated to the presidency. On his first day in office, criminals convicted at the highest levels of the justice system received a gift from the most powerful position in the American government.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Trump Allies Setting Stage For Post-Election Violence

Trump Allies Setting Stage For Post-Election Violence

Donald Trump’s allies have set the stage for contesting November’s election—and doing so violently. Following a bonkers war-games presentation Thursday—including scenarios in which Barbra Streisand is kidnapped by Hamas and Trump wins but is immediately arrested by the FBI—the Heritage Foundation declared that the election is already being rigged against Trump and made more threats of violence.

“As things stand right now, there’s a zero percent chance of a free and fair election,” said Mike Howell, executive director of Heritage’s Oversight Project. That project is “technically independent of the Heritage Foundation,” The Washington Post reports, “but included multiple Heritage employees.”

“I’m formally accusing the Biden administration of creating the conditions that most reasonable policymakers and officials cannot in good conscience certify an election,” Howell continued.

“If we see the kind of manipulations that we saw in 2020, I wonder if average Americans who are supporters of the president [Trump] will swallow that so easily as they did in 2020,” Adam Ellwanger, a rhetoric professor at the University of Houston-Downtown who helped lead the presentation, said.

That’s a not-so-subtle call to arms for MAGA world. Worse, it follows last week’s declaration from Heritage President Kevin Roberts. “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” he said on a right-wing news channel.

During Thursday’s presentation, Howell accused the Biden administration of a “coordinated invasion over our southern border for the purposes of impacting this election.”

Not to be outdone, extremist GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that it is a "virtual certainty" that Democrats are registering undocumented immigrants to vote, and will “harvest the ballots” and “Democratic operatives will fill those out.”

Obviously, none of these conservatives has presented any evidence for their claims.

Heritage released a report Thursday stating that President Joe Biden could try to hold the White House “by force” if he loses in November, and that “the current president and his administration not only possesses the means, but perhaps also the intent, to circumvent constitutional limits and disregard the will of the voters should they demand a new president.”

This is the very narrative that the Trump campaign and allies have been setting: that the election is rigged against Trump, and if he wins despite that, Biden will use his “weaponized” government to prevent Trump from taking office. Note that Biden, of course, has said he will accept the results of the election, while Trump has repeatedly refused to do so.

As if we need more evidence of Trump’s ties to Heritage and Project 2025 (and there are more every day), they are working together to lay the groundwork for contesting the election—again—but this time, they are putting the threat of Jan. 6-style violence front and center.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

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