Washington A resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s clemency for the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, injuring multiple law enforcement officers and forcing lawmakers into hiding as they attempted to certify the 2020 presidential election results was introduced Monday by Democratic and independent U.S. senators.
The majority of Democratic and independent senators who signed the resolution opposing any pardons for those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and Andy Kim of New Jersey.
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, was not included as a co-sponsor in the original news release, although reports on social media said he did. Fetterman’s office did not confirm right away.
To pass the resolution, Murray will ask the floor for unanimous consent. To prevent it from being accepted, only one senator must object.
In a statement released on Monday, Murray stated that she will not allow President Trump to change the events of January 6, when armed insurrectionists, inspired by Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol and brutally attacked Capitol Police officers in an effort to thwart a free and fair election.
“It should be the simplest thing in the world to condemn the pardons and commutations for those who caused cracked ribs, crushed spinal disks, and other injuries,” Murray added.
Murray stated that he hopes and expects his Republican colleagues to support the cops who risk their lives to protect senators by allowing this straightforward resolution to pass.
Twenty-two Republican senators were asked by States Newsroom to express their opinions regarding the pardons and commutations the day after Trump signed the order. With a few notable exceptions, the majority either declined to respond, claimed not to have noticed Trump’s high-profile decree, or only mentioned pardons granted by former President Joe Biden in the final hours of his administration.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican who supports Trump, told NBC News’ Meet the Press with Kristen Welker on Sunday that the president’s pardons of violent offenders on January 6 were a mistake because they seemed to imply that it was acceptable.
Fourteen of the attack’s masterminds and members of the paramilitary organizations the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys had their prison terms commuted by Trump. All other people accused of crimes following the incident were pardoned by the president in full, unconditionally, and completely.
608 of the roughly 1,572 defendants were accused of attacking, obstructing, or resisting law enforcement; 174 of them were accused of employing a lethal or hazardous weapon or seriously hurting an officer. 172 of those accused entered guilty pleas to attacking police. 69 of them entered guilty pleas to using a weapon to attack the officers.
A variety of weapons, including guns, chemical sprays, tasers, knives, flagpoles, and broken furniture, were brought and improvised by the rioters, according to investigators.
Murray, Schumer, Murphy, and Kim cited a number of particular instances of violent criminals who were granted pardons by Trump. Here are several examples:
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North Brunswick, New Jersey resident Christopher Quaglin was given a 12-year prison sentence for assaulting law enforcement that day by sprinkling bear spray directly in officers’ faces, stealing riot shields and hitting the officers, grabbing an officer by the neck and tackling him to the ground, and committing multiple other offenses.
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For taking a police riot shield and using it to attack and block officers at several sites across the Capitol, Bluffton, South Carolina resident Tyler Bradley Dykes received a sentence of almost five years in jail.
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Chester, Pennsylvania resident Robert Sanford Jr. received a sentence of slightly more than four years in jail for a number of offenses, including striking three officers in the head with a fire extinguisher.
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For tossing a wooden plank at officers and spraying them with the contents of a fire extinguisher before hurling it in an attempt to hit them, Robert Scott Palmer of Largo, Florida, received a sentence of little over five years in jail.
North Brunswick, New Jersey resident Christopher Quaglin was given a 12-year prison sentence for assaulting law enforcement that day by sprinkling bear spray directly in officers’ faces, stealing riot shields and hitting the officers, grabbing an officer by the neck and tackling him to the ground, and committing multiple other offenses.
For taking a police riot shield and using it to attack and block officers at several sites across the Capitol, Bluffton, South Carolina resident Tyler Bradley Dykes received a sentence of almost five years in jail.
Chester, Pennsylvania resident Robert Sanford Jr. received a sentence of slightly more than four years in jail for a number of offenses, including striking three officers in the head with a fire extinguisher.
For tossing a wooden plank at officers and spraying them with the contents of a fire extinguisher before hurling it in an attempt to hit them, Robert Scott Palmer of Largo, Florida, received a sentence of little over five years in jail.
Biden prematurely pardoned four police officers who testified before the congressional committee that looked into the incident and all members of the committee before he left office on January 20. As recently as December, Trump was on record stating that the committee members ought to be imprisoned.
