President Trump is taking action to pardon or commute the prison sentences of over fifteen hundred people accused in the January sixth insurrection at the Capitol. We’re awaiting confirmation on whether that includes nineteen Alabamians. Russell Alford of Hokes Bluff and Joshua Black are part of that group. Each was reportedly convicted of crimes ranging from illegally possessing a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct. Trump’s list also includes leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep the Republican in power.
Published reports on the list of Alabamians accused, charged, convicted, or who pleaded guilty following the failed insurrection also include Dylan and Marissa Bowling of Loxley, Phillip Andrew Bromley of Sterrett, Lonnie Leroy Coffman of Falkville, Kaleb Dillard of Columbiana, Larry Freligh, III of Auburn, Mark Grods of Mobile, Dillon Colby Herrington of Madison, Joshua James of Arab, Kari Dawn Kelley of Mobile, Christian Matthew Manley of Elkmont, Anthony Michael Mazzio of Midland City, Gregory Lamar Nix of Cleveland, Bobby Wayne Russell of Falkville, Bryan Shawn Smith of Madison, William Wright Watson of Auburn, and Donnie Duane Wren of Athens. The list of offenses ranged from seditious conspiracy, disorderly conduct, carrying illegal weapons onto restricted grounds among others.
President Donald Trump has pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers, using his clemency powers on his first day back in office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.
Trump's action, just hours after his return to the White House on Monday, paves the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent attacks on police, as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep the Republican in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
The pardons are a culmination of Trump's yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack, which left more than 100 police officers injured as the angry mob of Trump supporters — some armed with poles, bats and bear spray — overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows and sent lawmakers and aides running into hiding. While pardons were expected, the speed and the scope of the clemency amounted to a stunning dismantling of the Justice Department's effort to hold participants accountable over what has been described as one of the darkest days in the country's history.
Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 cases that are pending before judges stemming from the largest investigation in Justice Department history.
Casting the rioters as "patriots" and "hostages," Trump has claimed they were unfairly treated by the Justice Department, which also charged him with federal crimes in two cases he contends were politically motivated. Trump said the pardons will end "a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years" and begin "a process of national reconciliation."
The pardons were met with elation from Trump supporters and lawyers for the Jan. 6 defendants. Trump supporters gathered late Monday in the cold outside the Washington jail, where more than a dozen defendants were being held before the pardons.
"We are deeply thankful for President Trump for his actions today," said James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes.
It's unclear how quickly the defendants may be released from prison. An attorney for Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys national chairman who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, said he expected his client to be released from prison Monday night.
