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Jan. 6 insurrectionists who’ve been convicted over their role in the violent Capitol riot are feeling confident that President-elect Donald Trump will pardon them once he takes office.
Politico reports that hundreds of people involved in the 2021 attack who have not yet been charged are almost certain to evade consequences, with Trump set to return to the White House in a little over two months. And the ones who were caught sound certain that they’ll be allowed to skate from consequences as well.
Trump has repeatedly referred to participants in this failed coup attempt as “hostages” and “political prisoners.” And he has said he is “inclined to pardon many of them” if elected president. On one hand, you could say he’s a habitual liar, so we can never be certain his campaign promises will come to fruition. But Wired magazine spoke with convicted insurrectionists who seem optimistic that this is a promise Trump will keep.
Wired also quoted a social media post from a rioter named Jake Lang, who attacked police with a riot shield and baseball bat. Lang wrote on X that he’s confident he’ll be released on Inauguration Day. He denounced the people who played a role in him facing consequences — from the District of Columbia jury to the FBI — and said he forgives them all, but added:
Gods Word is alive in my heart & I offer you a better way forward to restore America: repent for your sins before God and turn from your wicked, ignorant ways - Father will hear from heaven and replenish our Land when the evil repent.
There will be no bitterness in my heart as I walk out of these doors in 75 days on inauguration day. The mercy I have received from God is too sweet to mix with hatred.
Another jailed rioter, Dominic Box, told Wired that he feels “electric” and “vindicated” after Trump’s victory. And Adam Johnson, who was sentenced to prison after being photographed while carrying then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern on Jan. 6, posted on social media about returning to the Capitol on Inauguration Day.
Keep in mind: Trump ran a campaign in which he repeatedly rambled about violent crime and boasted about the things he’d do to stop it. If and when he follows through with his vow to release Jan. 6 insurrectionists, it’ll show he’s perfectly fine with people who aid, abet or personally mete out violence … as long as they’re his supporters.
A country where that is tolerated is a country in which none of us is safe.