Trump's pardons of Capitol rioters who attacked police are unforgivable

President Donald Trump stirred up an early storm with the divisive use of his commutation power. He wiped away some 1,300 criminal convictions stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

The rioters whose records are now cleared include 211 who were serving time in federal prisons, among them those who attacked police officers and those convicted of criminal sedition.

The pardons, reprehensible on their face, are chilling for the signal they send that someone engaging in future acts of violence against our government will not necessarily face repercussions. Considered together with preemptive pardons issued earlier by former President Joe Biden, they leave our nation in a troubling place by sidelining our criminal justice system as an arbiter of right and wrong.

Trump had long promised if elected to pardon backers who besieged Congress, delayed the certification of the true 2020 presidential vote, and menaced elected officials of both parties including Vice President Mike Pence, who was overseeing the process that day and became a specific target of the angry mob.

EMBARRASSED ALLIES

Far more surprising than the speed with which Trump acted was the fact that he contradicted and embarrassed allies who predicted the incoming president wouldn’t reward those who attacked and injured police officers doing their jobs.

Days before the inauguration, Vice President JD Vance said those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned but “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, also drew such a distinction during her confirmation hearings, saying the president “does not like people who abuse police officers, either.” House Speaker Mike Johnson initially declared that violent criminals should not be pardoned.

Trump made no real effort to explain the contradiction. In a news conference Tuesday, he offered the rambling deflection that defendants’ lives “have been ruined” and that they served “years” in “a disgusting prison.”

Members of the now-pardoned mob used baseball bats, bear spray, and blocks of wood against outnumbered officers trying only to keep civil order. Those convicted of the worst crimes were serving prison terms, some of more than 10 years. None were victims of political persecution and none were “hostages,” a label Trump erroneously gave them.

One headliner is Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year sentence. Tarrio was found guilty in a fair trial of seditious conspiracy, which means he deployed violent force against the federal government.

That’s a subversive, not a patriot.

Trump’s pardons prompted justifiable criticism even from groups and individuals who ordinarily support the president.

In a restrained and sensible statement, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police said that failing to hold violent perpetrators accountable can “embolden others to commit similar acts of violence.”

Each of Long Island’s four House members gave the editorial board statements critical of clemency grants to those who attack police officers.

Other New York State elected officials would do well to renew a commitment to evenhanded justice. Such an assurance would be especially useful for those frustrated with the lenient policies of local prosecutors in criminal cases.

BIDEN’S PREEMPTIVE PARDONS

Trump, whose own indictment in connection with the insurrection was nullified by his return to the White House, denigrated the Department of Justice under Biden and even during his own term.

But Biden, while exiting, issued highly unusual, preemptive pardons to members of Congress who belonged to the panel that investigated the subversive uprising, as well as to unindicted family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley.

Many of Biden’s pardons also were wrong — and potentially damaging — because they further distort the intent of a president’s clemency options. That is so even if, as Biden feared, the new administration makes good on threats to weaponize law enforcement against its perceived domestic enemies.

Biden’s action showed no confidence that the federal justice system would prevail against any wrongful outcomes. It was a disturbing reinforcement of Trump’s threat to trash foundational American institutions he dislikes.

Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, which vocally backed Trump in the election, slammed pardons by both presidents as “inconsistent with the spirit of our Constitution.” He said their actions “represent a departure from the intent our founding fathers had when they bestowed this great power upon the commander in chief.”

One national law-enforcement group, Behind the Badge, said 171 of those pardoned were charged or convicted of using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing bodily injury to a police officer. A total of 140 officers were injured Jan. 6, some seriously. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died the next day after being assaulted and suffering a stroke.

As Rep. Tom Suozzi says in a video critical of the pardon, we can’t be “hypocrites” about condemning those who attack police. This is not a partisan game. Will Trump now “back the blue” only when it suits his personal agenda?

Trump’s double standards for friends and critics inside and outside government is a very far cry from the unity and rule of law that he promised. It will take the courage of other political leaders to work around the current and previous presidents and strive for understanding and fairness for the public.