TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A significant number of people pardoned for their roles in the January 6th Capitol riot are from Florida.
When President Donald Trump returned to office, more than 1,000 charges related to the Capitol riot were expunged.
“You’re going to see an executive order that will make you very happy,” Trump said.
One of President Trump’s longstanding goals has been to pardon, commute or dismiss cases related to the January 6, 2021, attack.
“I think we’ll be satisfied because it’s not the words that count, it’s the actions that matter,” Trump said. “You’re going to see a lot of action against the hostages on January 6th.”
A large group of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some armed with sticks and baseball bats, injuring more than 100 police officers. Retired Green Beret Jeremy Brown spoke to News Channel 8 from the Pinellas County Jail in 2023.
“Sometimes at night when I lie in bed crying, I selfishly think, ‘I could have taken a plea deal to save myself because I don’t even know that the American people care. to,” Ms. Brown said.
Brown’s seven-year sentence was for trespassing at the Capitol, but federal agents said they found illegal weapons and classified documents during a search of his home.
Not all defendants were pardoned. The president sentenced 14 people to reduced sentences.
A small number of people whose sentences were commuted are from Florida. Those individuals are:
Kelly Meggs (Dannellon) Joe Biggs (Ormand Beach) Kenneth Harrelson (Titusville) David Moorschel (Fort Myers) Joseph Hackett (Sarasota)
I spoke with attorney David Murschel, who has a firm in Sarasota. He explained that what President Trump did was a solution to “political prosecution.”
“Everyone is really excited. A new day has begun in America. We want the Department of Justice to be reformed and stop over-prosecuting people for political purposes. I’m not arguing that people shouldn’t have been prosecuted, but the injustice is the over-prosecution of these people, the over-prosecution and, frankly, the over-sentencing of these people. So I’m glad that Mr. Trump was able to correct that with a stroke of the pen.” Attorney Scott Weinberg.
“These pardons and commutations set a dangerous precedent and undermine the government’s responsibility to combat violent and hateful extremism,” the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement from its CEO.
Mr. Brown’s family shared the following statement he wrote before the inauguration.
“For the first time in almost 40 months, I felt hopeful! But it doesn’t mean I want to be free (I’m ready). I hope there are others out there who have a plan and are working together! Now we’ll see if Mr. Trump will act on that plan!”
