Will Trump pardon the most violent SC Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police at US Capitol?
Will incoming President Donald Trump pardon the most violent of the 34 people from South Carolina who were arrested in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots as one of his first acts in office?
“My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!” Trump wrote on Truth Social last March.
It’s unknown exactly what Trump will do about the fates of South Carolinians who committed — or are accused of committing — the most serious crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, the symbolic heart of America’s democracy. In all, nearly 1,600 people from around the country were arrested, including 600 accused of assaulting or impeding a law officer. All were arrested by the FBI and had their cases handled in federal court in Washington.
Trump has made conflicting statements about the defendants, at times indicating he might issue a blanket pardon for all of them, at other times indicating he might not pardon the worst offenders.
Last Sunday, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said on Fox News that people who committed violence during the Capitol riot “obviously shouldn’t be pardoned.” Vance later walked his quote back somewhat, posting on X that “I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up.”
On Wednesday, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, indicated during a Senate hearing that Trump might not pardon Jan. 6 offenders who attacked law enforcement officers.
“I’m not going to speak for the president, but the president does not like people who abuse police officers either,” Bondi told senators.
Nathaniel Williams, a Charleston lawyer and former assistant U.S. Attorney who represents two Jan. 6 South Carolina defendants, said “it remains to be seen just how the administration is going to handle it — whether there are going to be pardons that need to be applied for, or whether they’ll issue pardons across the board.”
“And will they dismiss pending cases? All that remains to be seen,” Williams told The State in an interview. “I have a client who is set for trial in March. But I don’t know what will happen.. There are a ton of cases with a lot of different statuses and I’ve got to believe there will be some guidance from the Department of Justice.”
A president can grant pardons for federal crimes. There are different types of pardons, according to the federal Office of the Pardon Attorney, but basically a pardon is an act of forgiveness for the crime so the offender becomes innocent in the eyes of the law. Pardons can also restore rights that have been taken away after a conviction, such as the right to own a firearm.
A review by The State shows that of the 34 people from South Carolina arrested, seven are charged with – or been sentenced to prison for — assaulting or attacking police using chemical spray, fists or other weapons.
Another seven people from South Carolina are charged with, or have been sentenced for, disruptive behavior that brought them into conflict with police, but not in a way that they were charged with the more serious crime of attacking a law enforcement officer.
Most of the other 20 South Carolina offenders have plead guilty to demonstrating within the Capitol — which was closed to the public that day — but without attacking police or damaging property. The sheer numbers of non-violent members of the mob gave cover for the hundreds of dangerous brawlers who were attacking police, law enforcement officials and federal judges have said.
‘Day of Peace”
No officers lost their lives on Jan. 6, 2021. But in a statement earlier this month, Attorney General Merrick Garland said five officers died because of the attack. One officer died of a stroke the next day, and four others later took their own lives, Garland said.
The 20 non-violent South Carolinians generally received light sentences of probation, home detention and prison sentences of from 14 days to three months. The variations in the relatively light sentences of the 20 non-violent defendants depended on things such as whether they lied to the FBI or displayed remorse for their crimes.
The evidence against defendants in nearly all cases consists of Capitol surveillance and other video, GPS location tracking of rioters’ cellphones and the rioters’ own selfies and videos posted on social media that placed them inside the Capitol. Many were turned in to the FBI by family or friends.
State Rep. Mike Burns, R-Greenville, a Trump supporter, said he agreed with a recent statement by Trump indicating he would pardon most offenders except for those “that it is well-documented that they really went overboard.”
“That would pretty much be my position too although I want the rest of the evidence and film to be released too,” said Burns. ”Every piece of evidence should be made available.”
Another Trump supporter, State Rep. Jay Kilmartin, R-Lexington, said pardons should be in line for the great majority of people arrested at the Capitol except for “people who were violent and attacking police officers.”
Bill Nettles, a former U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, is opposed to any blanket pardon, which he said “would make a mockery of the whole criminal justice system.”
Case-by-case reviews of each of the hundreds of individual cases might turn up some people who merit pardons because of their remorse or exceptional circumstances, Nettles said. “I wouldn’t rule out that there’s one or two or some that maybe deserve a pardon, but to issue a blanket pardon makes about as much sense as calling it a ‘day of peace’.”
Most Violent SC cases
Here are the people from South Carolina charged with the most violent offenses:
▪ Nicholas Languerand, of Horry County, pled guilty and was sentenced to 44 months in prison for assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon. He was involved in hand-to-hand fighting with officers and videoed throwing heaving objects at them. He has served his sentence. He pled guilty.
▪ George Tenney III, of Anderson, a former Trump supporter, pled guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison for civil disorder. He was videoed grappling with officers and opening a door that let 48 rioters into the Capitol where they “fanned out throughout the Capitol, destroying property and assaulting police and threatening Members of Congress,” according to evidence in his case. He has served his sentence.
▪ Thomas Casselman, of Walhalla, pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 months for assaulting police officers with pepper spray outside the Capitol building. Videos caught his crime. He is in federal prison in Arkansas.
▪ Tyler Dykes, of Beaufort County, pled guilty for attacking police. He had “violently wrenched” a police shield from an officer and used it to force his way at the head of a mob into police lines, according to evidence. He is in federal prison in New Jersey serving a 57-month sentence.
▪ Justin Perrou, of Charleston, fought with police and sprayed them with “a large canister of chemical irritant,” according to evidence in his case. He also used a bullhorn to yell obscenities at police, according to evidence. He is charged with assaulting and interfering with police. His charges are pending.
▪ Jason Barrett, of Myrtle Beach, fought with police and at one point grabbed a police officer from behind and put his arm around the officer’s neck, prompting the officer to yell, “Get off me!” according to evidence in his case. His charges are pending.
▪ Christopher George Rockey, of Berkeley County, pled guilty to assaulting an officer and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Rockey had physically grappled with officers during police-mob clashes, according to evidence.
Rockey, who was sentenced to prison in November, could likely have delayed his sentencing hearing to see what Trump would do, said his attorney, Brady Vannoy of Moncks Corner.
But Rockey, a former Marine with service-connected disabilities, expressed remorse and wanted to go ahead with the hearing, Vannoy said.
“He (Rockey) said, “No, I have done wrong. I want to answer for my conduct now. I don’t want any delays,” Vannoy said.
Vannoy said Rockey reports to prison on Jan. 25. In the meantime, Vannoy said, he’s writing letters to President-elect Trump and others seeking a reprieve. “We are actively pursuing a pardon.”
Rockey didn’t actually assault officers, Vannoy said. “He was getting shoved off a patio and wrestled, at most, with the police. He was the one who took the worst end of the beatings.”
Biggest investigation ever
The attack on the Capitol resulted in the largest criminal investigation by the Department of Justice in its history.
Rioters motivated by Trump’s false claims that Democrats had stolen the 2020 election stormed a lightly-defended Capitol in an effort to disrupt the Congress’s certification of electoral votes — a ceremonial but essential Constitutionally-required process that is normally peaceful. More than 140 police were assaulted that day.
Trump’s allies filed some 60 lawsuits alleging election fraud, but nearly all were thrown out of court for lack of evidence.
Trump’s FBI investigated and found no evidence of election fraud that could have affected the November 2020 election. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected two challenges to the election. Numerous Trump advisers including Attorney General William Barr told Trump there was no election fraud.. But Trump insists that he won — a stance that critics call “the Big Lie.”
More than 1,000 defendants have already pleaded guilty. Another 221 have been found guilty after trials. Approximately 600 people have been charged with assaulting law agents or officers or obstructing those officers during a civil disorder, including approximately 170 defendants charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, according to the Department of Justice.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, a Democrat, head of one of the state’s largest law enforcement agencies, said people in law enforcement are watching to see the extent of Trump’s pardons.
“Anybody who attacked a cop should never be pardoned for anything,” Lott said. “Anyone who assisted the rioters in attacking police officers or damaging property should be held accountable. That was an attack on our police officers.”