The largest police union in the U.S. and a professional association for police leaders strongly condemned President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations for more than 1,500 January 6 defendants hours after he took office.
The national Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police said they were “deeply discouraged” by Trump’s executive order granting the release of those convicted of killing or assaulting police officers during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The groups argue those former prisoners 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,” the joint statement reads.
The Fraternal Order of Police, which boasts over 377,000 members, notably endorsed Trump in the last three presidential elections.
“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 two police organizations said.
On Monday, his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly all January 6 defendants with the exception of 14 individuals whose sentences were commuted.
Among those receiving commutations were Stewart Rhodes, who led the right-wing militia Oath Keepers, and Dominic Pezzola, a member of a similar street gang called the Proud Boys. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges, and Pezzola was sentenced to ten years in prison for assaulting a police officer. Both were freed after Trump’s executive order.
Of the approximately 1,500 defendants, some 900 were convicted on misdemeanor charges for having trespassed in the Capitol without committing any violence or destruction of property. Meanwhile, about 600 were charged with assaulting or obstructing police officers, including almost 200 rioters who carried weapons or brutally attacked officers.
One such D.C. Metropolitan officer, Michael Fanone, was assaulted by six people during the January 6 riot four years ago. As a result, he suffered a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury.
Criticizing the president’s near-total pardon, Fanone said he felt “betrayed by my country” and Trump supporters. “Whether you voted for him because he promised these pardons or for some other reason, you knew that this was coming. And here we are,” the former officer told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Trump has referred to the January 6 defendants as “hostages,” suggesting they were subjected to politically motivated charges. The newly inaugurated president made the comparison during his Monday night speech in the Capital One Arena, where a former Hamas hostage was present.
Facing pushback from reporters on the decision, Trump said on Tuesday the January 6 prisoners served enough time and deserved to be released. He further defended his decision by saying district attorneys are more concerned with prosecuting political opponents than murderous criminals.
In their critical statement, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police also slammed the Biden administration’s commutations of criminals who murdered or attacked law enforcement officers.
Before leaving office, former president Joe Biden set the presidential record for most individuals pardons and commutations.
In the final minutes of his presidency, he commuted the lifelong sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. The month before, Biden converted the death row sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates to lifetime imprisonment without the possibility of parole, some of whom killed officers.