Monday’s pardon of the Jan. 6 rioters by President Trump leaves law enforcement officers justifiably wondering, “Who’s got my back?”
Not the president.
Trump’s sweeping order pardons nearly all who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 in an effort to overturn the election of then-President Joe Biden.
More than 1,600 had been charged in connection with the riots, most of whom served brief sentences, if at all, for what was determined to be nonviolent offenses for breaching the Capitol’s restricted grounds and trespassing.
Lumped in with those, however, were those accused of seditious conspiracy, an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of power. Many were dressed in combat gear and carried weapons, including firearms.
Video footage shows them attacking police officers. In all, more than 140 officers were assaulted; one fatally. Some were hit with two-by-fours or pepper-sprayed. Four officers committed suicide in the riot’s aftermath.
So if these people won’t be held accountable for their destruction to both life and property, what’s the purpose of trying to enforce the law?
Why put on a uniform if the perpetrators are sprung free?
Equally concerning is Trump’s efforts to rewrite history by recasting the offenders as peaceful supporters.
“The cops should be charged and the protesters should be freed,” Trump said in his most recent campaign. Those arrested were “political prisoners.”
Trump now refers to the attempted insurrection as “a day of love.”
The mock gallows calling for Vice President Mike Pence’s head? A figment of our imagination. The threats left on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk? Love letters.
We are thankful the president’s inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda was peaceful Monday.
But four years ago, it was a crime scene.
Nothing will, or should, erase those facts.
