One of Donald Trump’s biggest media allies, Sean Hannity, flipped the script Wednesday night and probed the President over his decision to release Jan. 6. rioters who were convicted of assaulting police officers.
On the first day of his second term in the White House, Trump signed a controversial executive order to quash convictions picked up by a whole host of questionable characters. Among the 1,500 or so convictions pardoned or commuted, there were around 600 accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding police as rioters surged towards the Capitol building.
However, in his first one-on-one interview since returning to the White House, Trump told his old pal that these were just “minor” incidents. Sitting in the Oval Office, Hannity noted that Trump campaigned on a message of releasing Jan. 6. rioters, but he asked why that extended to those who attacked police officers, something that Republicans would usually treat with zero tolerance.
“The only criticism or pushback I’ve seen is about people that were convicted or involved in incidents where they were violent with police. Why did they get a pardon?” Hannity asked.
Trump said in response that the offenders had served their time. “A number of reasons. Number one, they were in there for three-and-a-half years, a long time, and many in solitary confinement, treated like nobody’s ever been treated. Treated so badly,” he claimed.
“They were treated like the worst criminals in history, and you know what they were there for? They were protesting the vote because they knew the election was rigged and they were protesting the vote, and they should be allowed to protest the vote. You should be allowed to.”
In an unusual move, Hannity contradicted the president. He interrupted, saying: “But shouldn’t be able to invade the Capitol.”
Trump continued, saying “forgetting about all that.” “Most of the people were absolutely innocent. Okay, but forgetting all about that, these people have served horribly, a long time. It would be very, very cumbersome to go and look– You know how many people we’re talking about? 1,500 people," he said.
He then claimed that some of the incidents involving police were “very minor,” before rambling about CNN and murderers allegedly running lose in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. “The other thing is this. Some of those people with the police, true, but they were very minor incidents, okay? You know, they get built up by that couple of fake guys that are on CNN all the time. They were very minor incidents and it was time. You have murderers in Philadelphia, you have murderers in Los Angeles that don’t even get any time,” he said.
He then rolled out one of his old favorites, calling the whole thing a “hoax.” “This was a political hoax, and you know what? Those people, and I’m not saying in every single case, but there was a lot of patriotism with those people. A lot of patriotism,” he said, before Hannity segued onto Joe Biden.
Former Washington, D.C., police officer Michael Fanone, was likely one of the “fake guys” Trump targeted in his diatribe. Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to using a stun gun and “plunging it” multiple times into Fanone’s neck. Fanone said he feared he would die that day, he has been a vocal critic of Trump and his rhetoric around the Capitol riots. He said he felt like he had a “target on my back” placed there by the Trump Administration.
Another of the people pardoned by Trump was Julian Khater, a man convicted of assaulting police officers including Brian Sicknick, who had two strokes and died a day after he was pepper sprayed at the insurrection. The medical examiner said he died of “natural causes,” but stated “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
His family have called the President’s decision a “betrayal of decency.” Sicknick’s brother Craig said Trump is a “poor excuse of a man.”
Senator Cory Booker, who attended Trump’s inauguration, said the move was “unacceptable.” Khater had been sentenced to over six years. “Their family would be alive today. The person who was literally seen on camera beating Brian Sicknick has just been pardoned by this President, that’s unacceptable to me,” Booker said.
Florida man Daniel Ball was charged in May 2023 with 12 counts tied to the infamous day. Ball, who was pardoned by Trump earlier this week, had “violently pushed” against police officers at the Lower West Terrace entrance before lobbing an explosive device inside, according to an FBI affidavit.
Perhaps most shockingly, 14 people all linked to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups received commutations. Their felonies will stand, but the President gave the go ahead to their release from prison.
Officers described injuries like “cracked ribs, traumatic brain injuries, smashed spinal discs and a heart attack,” according to NPR.
