President Trump can’t change what happened four years ago on Jan. 6, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an impossible effort to undo his 2020 election loss.
Soon, though, Mr. Trump will get the power to extricate the riot’s participants from the legal consequences of their actions. How far will he go? “A vast majority should not be in jail,” he said recently.
Scanning the latest case activity, what jumps out isn’t sympathetic characters.
On Dec. 20 a prison sentence of 48 months was given to 31-year-old Joshua Lee Atwood, who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement. He emptied a can of pepper spray at police, beat them with a pole, and pelted them with objects such as a “metal scaffolding pipe.” He yelled that the cops were “pieces of s—” and “betraying your country.”
The prosecution’s sentencing memo says his criminal history includes a pending felony case for an alleged 2023 stabbing.
On Dec. 17 a 60-month sentence was given to Michael Bradley, 50, who apparently went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with his own metal baton in a hip holster. He swung it at police more than once, though video at his trial couldn’t conclusively prove whether he made contact.
The government also says he lied to the FBI and at trial. He claimed it was really a flashlight holster on his hip, but the one he brought to court didn’t match the footage. His list of priors includes a 2002 conviction for meth trafficking.
Also in December: A 24-year-old man got nine months for having thrown an “equipment container lid” that beaned a cop, causing momentary loss of consciousness and a suspected concussion.
A 41-year-old man, who wore body armor on Jan. 6, pleaded guilty to scuffling with police, including trying to seize an officer’s baton while shouting, “Come out here b—.”
Other active cases include accusations of ramming the police line, punching cops, and walloping riot shields with a baseball bat.
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This was the brutal reality of the Capitol riot that many want to forget.
At times Mr. Trump suggests his pardons for Jan. 6 defendants won’t extend so far, and at times he’s less clear. He was pressed last month by an NBC host, who said that many of them “have pleaded guilty to assaulting police.” Mr. Trump’s reply was that a tough federal justice system gave them “no choice” but to plead out.
Well, if they were innocent, they could have told a jury.
Pardoning such crimes would contradict Mr. Trump’s support for law and order, and it would send an awful message about his view of the acceptability of political violence done on his behalf.
