Content warning: this post contains mentions of suicide.
On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of people attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence from certifying the election results. Donald Trump spoke from the Ellipse, a lawn behind the White House, that morning, claiming that radical-left Democrats and fake news media stole the election.
“We will never give up, we will never concede,” Trump said. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
By the end of his speech, an enormous crowd had already formed at the Capitol, outnumbering the over 1,200 officers present at the time of the attack. The crowd eventually breached the building, threatening the safety of Congress members, Capitol officers, and everyone else who was inside at the time. It wasn’t until hours later that Trump posted a video to his Twitter account telling the rioters to go home with his account banned by then-CEO Jack Dorsey after the attack.
The next morning, Trump officially denounced those who took part in the violent assault. “The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy,” he said. “To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay.”
President Donald J. Trump was inaugurated back into the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. On the same day, he issued a “complete and unconditional pardon” to all individuals convicted for their involvement on Jan 6, 2021. In his proclamation, he referred to the sentences many rioters received as “a grave injustice”— a stark contrast to his stance four years ago on Jan. 7.
While many involved are ecstatic about the pardons, many others feel differently. Pamela Hemphill, a 71-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor parading, picketing, or demonstrating in the Capitol, turned down Trump’s pardon. She told NPR that accepting the pardon “would be a slap in the face to the Capitol police officers, to the rule of law, to our whole nation.”
According to the New York Times, about 150 officers were injured during the riots on Jan. 6. One officer, Brian D. Sicknick, died the day after from injuries sustained during the attack. Four others died by suicide afterward including officers Jeffrey Smith, Howard S. Liebengoood, Gunther Hashida, and Kyle DeFreytag.
Former Capitol Police sergeant Aquilino A. Gonell spoke to the Wisconsin Examiner and described the assault he endured that day four years ago.
“Both my hands were bleeding,” he said, “and my left shoulder required surgery.”
The injuries he suffered sent him into retirement. Now, he watches as President Trump pardons the people who inflicted harm upon him and his former coworkers.
“It’s a miscarriage of justice, a betrayal, a mockery, and a desecration of the men and women that risked their lives defending our democracy,” Gonell told the New York Times.
Former speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has also spoken out on X about the president’s decision to pardon those involved, referring to it as “an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma.”
She continued, writing, “It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power.”
The nation seems to be split on its feelings toward President Trump’s decision to pardon those involved on Jan. 6 and what true justice looks like in this situation, but this is only the start of the second Trump administration, and there will likely be more divisive decisions to come.