Police say Jan. 6 pardons carry future risk for law enforcement
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Patrik Jonsson Staff writer
As a police union boss, Jim Palmer has the ultimate duty to support the well-being of over 10,000 men and women in blue throughout Wisconsin.
Now, Mr. Palmer and police across the nation say that their safety may have been undermined by the nation鈥檚 chief executive, who ran a law-and-order presidential campaign and benefited from endorsements from many local and national union chapters.
On Day 1 of his new term in office this week, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people convicted or facing criminal charges for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, injuring more than 130 police officers. He had telegraphed his intent to issue Jan. 6 pardons, but the immediate and near-total reprieve 鈥� just 14 defendants had serious sentences commuted rather than pardoned 鈥� surprised many Americans.
Why We Wrote This
In the wake of President Trump鈥檚 pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters, police question the long-term effect on police and public safety.
鈥淢any officers are disappointed,鈥欌�� says Mr. Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
The National Association of Police Organizations 鈥� of which the WPPA is a member 鈥� firmly Tuesday. Likewise, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police that when those who commit crimes 鈥� particularly violent acts that target police 鈥� don鈥檛 face consequences, 鈥渋t sends a dangerous message that could embolden others.鈥�
The unions also criticized former President Joe Biden, who, before leaving office this month, commuted the sentence of someone convicted of killing law enforcement officers. However, their joint statement followed President Trump鈥檚 Inauguration Day action.
Police safety 鈥� and public safety 鈥� at stake
Given this pushback, President Trump鈥檚 pardons, particularly for those convicted of attacking police, could be a political miscalculation.
For many Americans 鈥� most of whom for Jan. 6 rioters 鈥� it corrodes the notion that violence against officers is an attack on America鈥檚 tradition of, and appreciation for, law and order.
鈥淲hen police officers are killed or injured, it鈥檚 almost comparable to a political assassination,鈥� says Michael Scott, a former Madison, Wisconsin, police officer and now a criminologist at Arizona State University in Tempe. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a risk that some people will interpret this action as the president saying, 鈥榊ou are soldiers in our revolution.鈥欌��
Many who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were acting based on President Trump鈥檚 the 2020 election and were aiming to prevent the certification of Mr. Biden鈥檚 victory that was scheduled to occur that day.
The concerns about President Trump鈥檚 pardons aren鈥檛 merely about abstract principles. People who attacked officers physically on Jan. 6, and against whom officers testified in court, are being freed. Those individuals have heard President Trump call them 鈥減atriots鈥� and 鈥減olitical prisoners.鈥�
Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing the Capitol riot, has called for retribution against those who investigated and prosecuted the Jan. 6 defendants.
鈥淭he people who did this, they need to feel the heat,鈥� Mr. Tarrio said on a podcast after his release this week. 鈥淲e need to find and put them behind bars for what they did.鈥�
At least one former D.C. law enforcement officer a protective order this week, unsuccessfully, against those who assaulted him on Jan. 6.
Many beat cops have enjoyed Mr. Trump鈥檚 pro-police banter over the past decade, especially after controversial incidents including the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer prompted protests demanding police reform across the nation. Police unions鈥� early endorsement of Mr. Trump likely played a part in his 2016 victory.
But the unions鈥� pushback this week against the president鈥檚 new pardons is no surprise, experts say.
鈥淚f their support is truly rooted in [the belief] that Trump is committed to a more aggressive understanding of the criminal justice system, well, this isn鈥檛 that,鈥� says Benjamin Levin, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
The pardons for those who attacked the U.S. Capitol included those who didn鈥檛 commit violence as well as those who carried firearms, Tasers, and knives into the melee, according to the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office.
Juries also convicted some on charges of seditious conspiracy, which refers to activities that undermine a state without directly attacking it.
Defending the pardons
Mr. Trump defended the pardons to reporters this week at the White House.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e served years in jail,鈥� Mr. Trump said, according to press accounts. 鈥淭hey should not have served,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淲e pardoned people that were treated unbelievably poorly.鈥�
People convicted of hurting or killing police officers routinely face the toughest of sentences compared with other crime convictions.
In opposing the Jan. 6 punishments, Trump supporters often suggest that there was a failure to hold social justice rioters on the political left to account. But during the 2020 protests, some of which were accompanied by rioting, police arrested at least , according to a tally by BuzzFeed.
Mr. Trump also defended his move by citing Mr. Biden鈥檚 slew of pardons, including those for House Jan. 6 committee members and his own relatives.
Even as the avalanche of presidential pardons may set a worrisome precedent, Professor Levin says there is also room for meaningful reforms in the U.S. criminal justice system 鈥� including raising awareness among reform skeptics about how abstract notions of crime and punishment play out in the real world.
鈥淧art of what makes the reaction to Jan. 6 interesting is the degree to which Trump and his supporters are more willing to look at the context of punishment,鈥� he says.
At the same time, one of the Jan. 6 defendants has objected to Mr. Trump鈥檚 action. Pamela Hemphill rejected her presidential pardon, telling her local newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, that accepting the pardon 鈥� to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation.鈥欌��
Her sense of affront was mirrored in the reaction from police unions this week.
鈥淭here is a genuine and very deep-seated concern in American law enforcement that much of what they have sworn allegiance to, for a long time, is in jeopardy,鈥� says Professor Scott, who also served as chief of police in Lauderhill, Florida. 鈥淧olice ... give meaning to the Constitution. That [meaning] is essentially being renegotiated. That鈥檚 profound stuff.鈥�
