A federal attorney who prosecuted many of the Jan. 6 protesters cautioned the nation in a New York Times opinion piece published Friday that the pardoned men and women "have never been more dangerous."
Within a few hours of taking office on Monday, President Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders. Among them was granting a "full, complete and unconditional" pardon to roughly 1,500 of the 1,583 defendants charged in the Jan 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill.
Brandon Ballou was one of the attorneys assigned by the Department of Justice to prosecute those who pushed back against police and trespassed on federal property. According to Ballou, Trump's ultimate purpose of the pardons was not to correct a miscarriage of justice but to "encourage vigilantes and militias loyal to the president, but unaccountable to the government."
Ballou cited the case of Jalise and Mark Middleton, a married couple from Texas who participated with the most aggressive of the rioters, pushing up against barriers and even attempting to drag a police officer into the crowd. Later, Jalise Middleton boasted on Facebook about their confrontation, writing, "We fought the cops to get in the Capitol and got pepper-sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!"
While Ballou noted there was some sense of regret for a few of protesters charged and convicted, he observed no such remorse for the Middetons.
"I noticed that Mr. Middleton was wearing 'TRUMP' socks, with the president's face stitched into the side," Ballou wrote about observing the couple in the courtroom. "That small sign of fealty struck me as incredibly sad. The Middletons were ready to go to prison for a man who, quite likely, didn't care about them at all."
When asked during a press conference if the pardoned individuals from groups such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys had a place in the current political movement, Trump answered, "Well, we have to see. They've been given a pardon. I thought their sentences were ridiculous and excessive."
Ballou took a darker view of the president's action, saying that Trump's pardons will "reinforce these rioters' beliefs in their cause, and their loyalty to the man who leads it."
"There is great value to him in having members of these groups released, doubly loyal to him, and eager to carry out his agenda and silence his critics through violence. Mr. Trump has shown his willingness to use his pardon power, and little stops him from doing so again," Ballou added.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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