Last Updated on January 3, 2025
Federal judges, who have been handing January 6 defendants sentences fit for murderers, rapists, robbers and perpetrators of mass casualties events, are outraged and even scared of the prospect that President-elect Trump will keep his word and pardon the Americans who are victims of Joe Biden’s weaponized Justice Department.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who sentenced Oath Keeper leader Steward Rhodes to 17 years in prison for non-violently demonstrating at the Save America rally that police escalated into a deadly riot, warns it would be “frightening” if Rhodes were pardoned.
“The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved of his actions is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” Judge Mehta said Wednesday while sentencing William Todd Wilson, a former Oath Keepers member from North Carolina who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols concurs with Mehta.
In a sentencing hearing in November, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols reportedly lamented that pardons would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump were to issue blanket pardons to the demonstrators that Trump and his base insists are political prisoners and political hostages.
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to pardon Americans who were prosecuted and held hostage by the Biden administration for protesting in the nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, in the days following that fateful day.
Slated for a return to the Oval Office in 31 days, the former president has already followed up on his campaign promise.
Meanwhile. federal judges presiding over January 6 cases are ramping up the charges against these defendants ahead of Inauguration Day, expediting the “classification” of J6 defendants and even defying the Supreme Court by continuing to charge defendants with violating 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2), Obstruction of an Official Proceeding.
The 1512 charge, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, is one of the most serious leveled against former President Donald Trump himself and an ever-growing number of January 6 defendants. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute had been misused to prosecute demonstrators.
Defense attorney Roger Roots, who has represented nearly 4 dozen January 6 defendants alongside his law partner John Pierce, revealed last week that prosecutors typically spend three to six months on “classification” to determine that type of facility the defendant will be housed.
Instead for at least two of Root’s clients, the DOJ is circumventing the norm and forcing his clients to report to prison for Christmas mere days or weeks after they were sentenced.
In his first interview since his historic November 5 victory, Trump on Meet the Press assured he would pardon the January 6ers on “Day one.” Trump doubled down on his promise, saying: “First day. Yeah, I’m looking for these pardons”
The government has secured a staggering 100 percent conviction rate against these defendants on jury trials as the Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to apprehend at least two January 6 defendants to date.
Approximately 20 judges continue to preside nearly 1,600 cases against people charged in the Jan. 6 riot. Many January 6 defendants have asked for their case to be delayed until Trump takes office, but judges largely have denied their requests and scurried forward with sentencings and trials.
