David Nicholas Dempsey had a history of political violence when he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and began beating police officers with flagpoles.
Daniel Ball also had priors when he allegedly threw a bomb into a tunnel packed with Capitol police officers fending off a mob trying to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Donald Trump.
Then there’s Jonathan Pollock, accused of throwing a police officer down a flight of stairs, and Edward Kelley, who allegedly plotted to murder the FBI agent who was investigating his role in the attack.
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They’re just some of the violent would-be insurrectionists that Trump, the “law and order candidate,” is prepared to pardon when he takes office again in January.
More than 1,200 people have been arrested and more than 180 convicted of various crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.
Another 900 pleaded guilty for their roles in the attack, which left a police officer and four rioters dead. Four other police officers died by suicide in the months that followed.
Instead of condemning the violence, Trump—who claims to love police officers—has repeatedly called the rioters “hostages” and “patriots,” and said he would “absolutely” pardon them—even if they’ve been convicted of violent crimes.
“If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” he told the National Association of Black Journalists in July.
“They were convicted,” Rachel Scott of ABC News replied.
“They were convicted by a very tough system,” Trump protested.
To prove he’s a man of his word, Trump even opened a campaign rally in Houston with a recording of a performance by the “J6 Prison Choir.”
Judges have handed down lengthy jail sentences for the leader of the Proud Boys, the neo-fascist militant group that organized the failed insurrection, and his deputies.
Henry Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for spearheading the violence, which the judge held was an act of terrorism. His lieutenants—Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola—all received between 10 and 18 years in prison for helping plan and executive the attack.
Dempsey, who was one of most violent rioters, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for stomping on officers’ heads, attacking them with pepper spray and swinging poles at them, NPR reported.
For officers guarding the tunnel, the bomb that Ball is accused of setting off was the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal, NBC News reported. The Florida native is still awaiting trial, along with Pollock, but Trump could preemptively pardon the defendants if he wanted to. Kelley’s trial is on-going.
When he was just a lowly presidential candidate, Trump donated to the rioters’ legal defense fund. Now that he’s headed back to the White House, getting these patriots and their anger issues back on the streets will be one of his first presidential acts, he says.
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