Pro-Trump police union condemns president’s Jan. 6 pardons: ‘A dangerous message’
The largest police organization in the US which backed Donald Trump in the last three elections condemned the president’s decision to pardon 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters, some of whom were convicted of attacking law enforcement officers.
“Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety — they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law,’ the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.”
Trump signed an executive order Monday night granting a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” for 1,500 defendants charged or convicted related to the Capitol Hill riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
A majority of the charges were related to unlawful entry and disorderly conduct when the mob breached the Capitol, but some were handed multi-year sentences for assault on police officers or other more serious crimes.
“They’ve already been in jail for a long time. These people have been destroyed,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked if any beneficiaries had assaulted cops.
He also commuted 14 prison sentences, including far-right Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.
Over 140 police officers from US Capitol Police and the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Departments were assaulted when Trump supporters flung themselves at the Capitol, intent on blocking Congress from affirming Joe Biden as the next president.
Four years after the riots, 608 defendants had been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding or obstructing officers during civil unrest, the DOJ said earlier this month.
Of those, 174 were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
“When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence,” the two police organizations said.
One Capitol Police officer, 42-year-old Brian Seltnick, suffered multiple strokes while fending off rioters, and died in the hospital the following day. A medical examiner ruled his death to have been a result of natural causes, but later said the violent events a day earlier “played a role in his condition.”
The Fraternal Order of Police, which boasts membership of more than 377,000 sworn law enforcement officers across the country, endorsed Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Trump’s controversial pardons fulfills a campaign promise, but appears to have negatively impacted his approval rating just days into his second go at the presidency.
A new Reuters poll shows Trump began his second term with a higher approval rating than his first term – 47% in 2025 compared to 43% in 2017 — however some 58% of respondents said that Trump should not have pardoned the Capitol rioters.
