“President Trump’s actions today are an affront to justice,” Issue One says regarding Jan. 6 pardons

In response to President Trump’s anticipated pardons and commutations of those convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Issue One’s Founder and CEO Nick Penniman released the following statement:

“President Trump’s actions today are an affront to justice.

“A battle for reality is being fought. If you lean one way politically, social media algorithms show you people calmly walking around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. If you lean another, you will see images of the brutal assault that occurred that day. You will see vandalism, violence, and the beating of police officers. You will see the profound disruption of one of our most sacred constitutional processes. Since that day, prosecutors and the courts have sifted through the guilty and the innocent. Now those guilty of planning and executing the attack must continue to be held accountable.

“Our thoughts are with the members of law enforcement who were brutally assaulted that day, and the families of the officers whose lives were tragically cut short. May we never again have to witness such a thoroughly degrading moment.”

Background:

According to a database maintained by NPR, 1,575 people have been charged with federal crimes following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 1,030 people have pleaded guilty for their actions, and 257 have been convicted by juries of their peers. 1,121 have been sentenced for their crimes.

Below are 10 particularly heinous examples of the violence and brutality that took place that day.

Stewart Rhodes

The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers group and a mastermind behind the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rhodes spent $20,000 on arsenal in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and helped organize on-the-ground efforts as rioters stormed the Capitol grounds. In an FBI recording from a Jan. 10, 2021, meeting with other Oath Keepers, Rhodes is heard saying, “My only regret is they should have brought rifles. We should have brought rifles. We could have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang f****** Pelosi from the lamppost.” Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez

In addition to deploying a fire extinguisher at police officers and shoving a wooden pole at a police line, Rodriguez used a stun gun to shock Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone on Jan. 6. The attack caused Fanone to lose consciousness and suffer a heart attack while other rioters beat him. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to four felony charges before his trial began, including conspiracy and assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.

Zach Rehl

Another leader of the Proud Boys, Rehl was seen on video spraying a chemical irritant at law enforcement officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Prior to the attack, Rehl advocated for “firing squads” to be used against “the traitors that are trying to steal the election,” according to evidence presented at his trial. Following his conviction, Rehl was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Ronald Colton McAbee

An off-duty sheriff’s deputy from Tennessee, McAbee grabbed a downed police officer’s leg and pulled him further toward the mob attacking the Capitol. McAbee was wearing reinforced knuckle gloves when he swung his arms and hands at the head and torso of another officer who was attempting to help the other officer. He was convicted by a jury of five felonies and sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Dominic Pezzola

A member of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, Pezzola took a shield from a police officer during the riot and used it to bash in a Capitol window, allowing other members of the mob to enter the building. He was convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and robbery involving government property and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Pezzola shouted, “Trump won!” as he was being escorted out of the courtroom following his sentencing.

Ethan Nordean

A leader of Seattle’s Proud Boys chapter, Nordean was “the undisputed leader on the ground on Jan. 6,” according to prosecutor Jason McCullough. Nordean led a group of nearly 200 rioters to attack the Capitol. He was convicted on charges including seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, receiving an 18-year federal prison sentence for his actions.

Richard “Bigo” Barnett

Barnett, who was photographed on Jan. 6 with his feet on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional office, stormed the Capitol building armed with a stun gun and a ten-pound steel pole. He was convicted on eight federal charges and was sentenced to over four years in prison.

Joe Biggs

Biggs was one of the first to breach the security perimeter at the Capitol. Prosecutors described Biggs as “an instigator and leader” during the attack and was responsible for tearing down a fence separating police from the rioters, which qualified him for a terrorism sentencing enhancement. In a video that Biggs filmed of himself outside of the Capitol, he said, “Jan. 6 will be a day in infamy.” Biggs was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Peter Schwartz

Schwartz threw a folding chair at law enforcement and repeatedly used pepper spray on police during the Jan. 6 attack. He was found guilty on 10 charges including four felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon, adding to a prior criminal history of 38 felony convictions dating back to 1991. Schwartz was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.

Thomas Webster

A retired New York Police Department officer, Webster assaulted Metropolitan Police Department officer Noah Rathbun with a metal flagpole and attempted to rip the gas mask off his face. Webster was convicted by a jury of his peers on six counts and sentenced to 10 years in prison.