This past Tuesday, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) issued a joint statement in response to the 45th/47th president of the United States having on his very first day in office pardoned or commuted the sentences of all of the insurrectionists who assaulted police officers on January 6. The IACP and the FOP said:

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.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board opined as follows yesterday in an editorial with the headline “Trump Pardons the Jan. 6 Cop Beaters”:

Republicans are busy denouncing President Biden’s pre-emptive pardons for his family and political allies, and deservedly so. But then it’s a shame you don’t hear many, if any, ruing President Trump’s proclamation to pardon unconditionally nearly all of the people who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This includes those convicted of bludgeoning, chemical spraying, and electroshocking police to try to keep Mr. Trump in power. Now he’s springing them from prison.

This is a rotten message from a President about political violence done on his behalf, and it’s a bait and switch. Asked about Jan. 6 pardons in late November, Mr. Trump projected caution. “I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were nonviolent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” he said. “We’re going to look at each individual case.”

Taking cues from the boss, last week Vice President JD Vance drew a clear line: “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”

So much for that. The President’s clemency proclamation commutes prison sentences to time served for 14 named people, including prominent leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were organized and ready for violence. Then Mr. Trump tries to wipe Jan. 6 clean, with “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals.” The conceit is that there are hundreds of polite Trump supporters who ended up in the wrong place that day and have since rotted in jail.

Out of roughly 1,600 cases filed by the feds, more than a third included accusations of “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement.” The U.S. Attorney’s office said it declined “hundreds” of prosecutions against people whose only offense was entering restricted grounds near the Capitol. Of the 1,100 sentences handed down by this year, more than a third didn’t involve prison time. The rioters who did get jail often were charged with brutal violence, including:

• Daniel Joseph “DJ” Rodriguez, sentenced to 151 months, who can be seen on video, federal prosecutors said, deploying an “electroshock weapon” against a policeman who was dragged out of the defensive line, by “plunging it into the officer’s neck.” The night before, he promised in a MAGA chat group: “There will be blood.”
• William Lewis, given 37 months, “sprayed streams of Wasp and Hornet Killer spray at multiple police officers on four distinct occasions,” forcing several to flee the line and “seek treatment for their eyes.”
• Isreal James Easterday, 30 months, blasted a cop “in the face with pepper spray at point-blank range,” after which the officer “collapsed and temporarily lost consciousness, which enabled another rioter to steal his baton.”
• Thomas Andrew Casselman, 40 months, hit multiple officers “near their faces” with pepper spray. His later internet searches included, “The statute of limitations for assault on a police officer.”
• Curtis Davis, 24 months, punched two police officers in the head. That night he filmed a video of his fist, in which he bragged: “Them knuckles right there, from one of those m— faces at the Capitol.”
• Ronald Colton McAbee, 70 months, hit a cop while wearing “reinforced brass knuckle gloves,” and he held one down on the ground as “other rioters assailed the officer for over 20 seconds,” causing a concussion.
• Michael Joseph Foy, 40 months, brought a hockey stick with a TRUMP 2020 flag attached, which he swung “over his head and downward at police officers as if he were chopping wood.”

There are more like this, which everyone understood on Jan. 6 and shortly afterward. “There is nothing patriotic about what is occurring on Capitol Hill,” one GOP official tweeted. “This is 3rd world style anti-American anarchy.” That was Marco Rubio, now Mr. Trump’s Secretary of State. He was right. What happened that day is a stain on Mr. Trump’s legacy. By setting free the cop beaters, the President adds another.

Which brings me to a beacon of light and truth in our dark landscape.

Pam Hemphill, once known as the “MAGA Granny,” participated in the events of January 6. Although she did not attack police officers, she did, consistent with the statement of facts in her case, face the following charges:

• 8 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1) – Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority,
• 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2) – Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building,
• 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(D) – Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds,
• 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(G) – Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building.

Hemphill pleaded guilty to Count Four (Parading etc. in a Capitol Building) and served 60 days in jail. And she repented.

In an Open Letter to Congress that she published in September 2023, Hemphill said the following:

I would appreciate my story being entered into the public record, to attempt to right the wrongs I have done, and to hopefully provide the American people with facts that sadly, too many of us did not know when we arrived in the morning on January 6th. I was charged for my participation in the events that day, I pleaded guilty, and I served 60 days in prison. I am not a victim of the government, the Justice Department was not weaponized against me, I was a participant who broke the law.

I would like to do my part to contribute to the collective healing that our nation needs after the events of January 6th as well as address the constant gaslighting perpetuated by those who refuse to accept accountability for their part in what happened that day and that continues to go on across America.

As I mentioned, I am a retired Substance Abuse Counselor. For over 28 years I provided assistance and support to people struggling with addiction. As a person in recovery myself, my program involves making direct amends which means more than just words or simple apologies. It takes action that demonstrates our new way of life. It requires acknowledging and aligning our values to our actions by admitting wrongdoing and then living by those principles.

My speaking out with the facts has come at great risk to my personal safety and well-being, but I believe that not speaking about what I have learned only serves those who continue to gaslight and lie in order to protect their own interests. I also want others who have felt betrayed or misled to know that they are not alone. We have an opportunity to accomplish what we thought we came to the Capitol on January 6th for by admitting our wrongs and sharing the facts.

The whole three-page letter bears reading. Below I share another short excerpt:

After I retired, I began a hobby of videotaping and documenting political events for the local Women’s MAGA groups. When I attended those rallies I felt welcomed. I felt like I was part of a group of people who truly cared about the country and the constitution. Looking back, I realize much of what I was being told was propaganda, things like “the Democrats were trying to turn us into a Communist country,” or “the Left wanted to do away with the constitution.” That gaslighting caused a lot of fear. That fear kept me engaged because I thought we were saving the country and protecting the constitution. I was deceived.

On January 6 the betrayal of my trust and loyalty to the movement was not yet realized by me. It wasn’t until much later I would understand that those people who I had believed were Patriots, had been using my fear. The desire to be a Patriotic American was weaponized against the Capitol, the rule of law, and against the peaceful transition of power. The events on January 6 did not match the ideals I believed I was supporting. I feel ashamed that I couldn’t see it at the moment.

A week before the inauguration, Hemphill made clear that she would not accept a pardon from the 47th president, and she followed through this week in voicing her rejection of it.

“Accepting the pardon would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation,” Hemphill told the Idaho Statesman by phone Tuesday. “The J6 criminals are trying to rewrite history by saying that it was not a riot; it wasn’t an insurrection. I don’t want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.”

Hemphill said her attorney informed her Tuesday that Trump pardoned her. They have made plans to file a letter of rejection.

A Colorado resident, I am represented in my state Capitol by a person who agitated for the post-pardon release of violent January 6 convict Lucas Denney and in Congress by the infamous Lauren Boebert, who as a new member of the House in 2021 gave a tour of the Capitol to people who would later breach it and following the announcement of the pardons announced her intention to honor convicts with another defiling tour.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said Tuesday she would offer guided tours of the Capitol to the Jan. 6 rioters who just received a sweeping pardon from President Trump.

“I’ll be the first member of Congress to offer them a guided tour in the Capitol,” Boebert said Tuesday standing outside a Washington, D.C., jail where some defendants were being held, according to footage from NBC News.

I conclude with one more paragraph from the statement that Pamela Hemphill published in September 2023. May decency and sense and a commitment “to operate in the same fact-based reality” ultimately prevail, among our elected officials and in the country at large.

Aside from the events at the Capitol on January 6, the danger to this country still exists. The constant gaslighting and propaganda that continues to fan the flames of grievance, hate and anger towards our fellow Americans, Democrats, President Biden, and the Federal Government must stop. If we are to be Patriots who love this country, we must stand up and speak out with the facts. That includes elected officials who claim to demand facts and evidence, but refuses to operate in the same fact-based reality.