J6 pardons: it's the brownshirts!

Totally ignoring Joe Biden’s crime family pardons, Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) are shocked and alarmed: It’s the end of “our democracy!” Trump has freed an army of violent brown shirts to do his bidding! Trump hates the police! “Our democracy” is doomed!

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How many of the more than 1500 pardons actually involved “violence?” The Hill takes a run at it:  

More than 600 people who invaded the Capitol that day as lawmakers sought to certify the results of the 2020 election were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement — and nearly 200 of them did so using a deadly or dangerous weapon.  

The crowds forced the evacuation of lawmakers who were set to certify the results of the election, and while they later returned to the Capitol that day to complete their work, more than 140 officers had been injured and some later died.  

 “More than 600 people? Is that 601? 683? “Nearly 200?” “Deadly or dangerous weapon?” Such as? “More than 140” officers injured? What were those injuries? Actually, one officer died of multiple strokes several days later and several committed suicide for reasons still unknown. 

Officers were apparently injured, but it’s always important to understand the complete context of every case. The DOJ so stretched the law it’s certain many charged with “violence” did no such thing, or were forced to admit to the DOJ’s overblown definitions in plea bargains necessary to avoid decades in prison for what would have amounted to nothing more than misdemeanor trespassing with a small fine and no jail time elsewhere.

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Head DOJ inquisitor Matthew Graves resigned on January 16. Graves pursued Americans with fanatical fervor, people who did nothing more than stand somewhere near the Capitol building. Aided by equally authoritarian judges and a virtually total D/s/c jury pool, Americans were charge stacked, and facing decades in prison accepted outrageous plea bargains. Judges treated people who did nothing more than walk in doors opened by Capitol Police, take in the sights and leave, as violent felons, imposing grossly excessive and punitive sentences.

Even as Donald Trump issued pardons, some Americans were still in jail under medieval conditions while awaiting trial. So outrageous was the government’s conduct, the Supreme Court, in Fischer v. United States, threw out one of the most egregious, over-reaching charges:  

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Of the 1,424 defendants charged following Jan. 6, over 350 were charged with “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding,” according to May numbers from the DOJ. 

That from a June, 2024 article. The Court ruled the DOJ misused the statute and vacated convictions on those charges. The decision would have forced the DOJ to retroactively expunge those charges and resentence everyone involved. Until the day he resigned, Graves continued to hunt down people who did nothing more than stand on the lawn.

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As I noted in Restore the rule of law: pardon them all, every day across the country, actual violent felons are freed because the police, prosecutors and judges made mistakes, because Americans believe that many who are guilty should go free rather than an innocent be unjustly convicted. The intentional violations of J6’s defendant’s rights would fill multiple volumes. There is no question they were political prosecutions, and even if some weren’t, how to tell the difference when all were the result of hostile, politically motived prosecutors who repeatedly gloated about striking defendants with "shock and awe?" How to tell the difference with judges who treated misdemeanors like the most violent, vile felonies and who handed out grossly excessive sentences? How to explain the treatment of people kept locked up without trial in medieval conditions for years? How do we restore a single standard of justice for all?

With such political, compromised prosecutions, what remedy other than pardons was just?

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The pardons unleashed no “brown shirt” army.  It’s not Normal Americans who burned down America in 2020 and committed actual murders. It was D/s/c thugs like Antifa and BLM. The overwhelming majority were never prosecuted. J6 prisoners, many federal jailers only reluctantly released, were thrilled to be reunited with their loved ones. They’re hardworking Americans, people with families and mortgages and jobs, people who wear the red, white and blue. They aren’t professional protestors. The overwhelming majority had no criminal records prior to J6. They have a lot of catching up to do, a lot of lost money to try to make up. They’re not going to be looting and burning businesses, defacing buildings or tearing down statutes. Most may be found in church every Sunday.

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Unlike the Biden Crime Family, none of them accepted millions to sell out America. Unlike General Mark Milley, none of them arguably committed mutiny. Unlike Capitol Police Captain Michael Byrd, none arguably committed murder. 

With any luck, we’ll soon learn the truth about the J6 prosecutions. It’s not going to be pretty, but it’s absolutely necessary.

On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that we’ve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor. 

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