President Donald Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 defendants and and commuted the sentences of others.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office brought excitement and hope to those close to the detained.
The White House announced the pardons shortly after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, more than four years after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and after years of defendants dealing with the legal system. His pardon impacted around 1,500 people and commuted others’ sentences.
Robert Morss told The Epoch Times that the pardons felt “bittersweet.” Morss was found guilty on multiple counts, including assault, in 2022. He pleaded not guilty and, like many others, criticized the way the government responded to the Jan. 6, 2021, events.
“All this stuff is finally coming to an end,” he said during a Jan. 20 interview. “You know, we never should have had to endure this as a country, but because we did, our country is stronger for it.”
Susan Sills, whose son Geoffrey was prosecuted in relation to Jan. 6, spoke to The Epoch Times while on her way to pick her son up from a Pennsylvania prison. “I’m excited, he’s excited,” she said, adding they plan to go out to eat and celebrate.
When asked whether she was surprised by the pardons, she said, “Not really.” She indicated there was some room for concern since her son was charged with assault.
Before the inauguration, Trump and Vice President JD Vance offered various indications as to who they would pardon. Vance, for example, said that violent Jan. 6 defendants should not receive pardons and that there was “a little bit of gray area” and that “there were a lot of people … who were prosecuted unfairly.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, “approximately 608” people have been charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents or officers or obstructing … officers during a civil disorder.”
Another defendant charged with assault was Luke Coffee, who maintains the guilty verdict he faced was wrong. After his pardon, Coffee told The Epoch Times that he was “overwhelmed with gratitude.”
“This journey has been about so much more than ourselves. It has been about standing firm for truth, even when the odds seemed insurmountable,” he said.The last four years have been “life-changing” for Mickie Witthoeft, she said, after her daughter, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot by a police officer on Jan. 6.
During an interview with The Epoch Times, Witthoeft described Trump’s pardons as a “victory for Ashli.”
Witthoeft was one of many gathered across the street from the D.C. Central Detention Facility in Southeast Washington after news surfaced of Trump’s pardons. Music played as supporters stood in below-freezing temperatures, while police formed a barrier on D Street Southeast.
Trump’s pardons were a marked shift for the federal government.
On the fourth anniversary of the “Stop the Steal” rally and subsequent protest at the U.S. Capitol, former Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “The public servants of the Justice Department have sought to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting integrity.”
“They have conducted themselves in a manner that adheres to the rule of law and honors our obligation to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of everyone in this country,” he said.
Many, like Trump, disagreed. The pardons have freed many, and with their release begins the road to rebuilding their lives or paying off legal expenses.
“The road ahead is one of rebuilding, reconciliation, and being a voice for the voiceless,” Coffee said. “As we walk forward, we hold onto the truth that God redeems, restores, and rebuilds what the locusts have eaten.”
“I’m going to do my best to restore my life,” Morss, a former high school history teacher, told The Epoch Times. “I’d like to get back into teaching.”
Sills told The Epoch Times she had to take a “big chunk” out of her retirement to pay for an attorney.
Desiree Rowland, who goes by the name Osprey Sensei, set up a givesendgo account for her fiance, Barry Ramey, who was in a halfway house in the early hours of Jan. 21. She said the fundraising goal of $125,000 includes legal costs and other expenses like car insurance and food for Ramey at the halfway house.
“I think we’re going to celebrate in a big way,” Rowland told The Epoch Times. She said that she didn’t think “most people realize our entire life has been turned upside down” and that she took for granted simple things like being able to talk on the phone or holding hands with Ramey.
By 8:22 a.m. ET on Jan. 21, Ramey posted on social media that he had been released. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison and was found guilty following a bench trial of felony civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding, certain officers. Ramey pleaded not guilty to seven counts in 2022.
Ben Pollock, who said his daughter and son were imprisoned in the D.C. Central Detention Facility, stood outside the jail while holding an American flag and wearing a “Trump 2020” hat.
“I’m ecstatic for just them getting to start a new life,” he told The Epoch Times. His son, Jonathan, and daughter, Olivia, were two of five indicted by DOJ in 2021 on multiple counts, including assault. Both pleaded not guilty to all counts in 2022 after a superseding indictment was filed.
Samira Bouaou and Emel Akan contributed to this report.