President Donald Trump has issued pardons to more than 70 Ohioans convicted or charged with crimes in connection with the siege of the U.S. Capitol, and one of the defendants said it was an honor to stand out that day with other patriots and be prosecuted for it, and who now face confirmed by Trump.
During a ceremony in the Oval Office, he signed his executive order he pardoned approximately 1,500 people who participated in the riots that took place on January 6, 2021, Trump explained: “Let me tell you, they’ve been in jail for a long time.”
“I see murderers in this country getting two years, one year, maybe no time at all,” Trump stated wildly without evidence. “So they have been in prison for a long time. These people were destroyed. What they did to these people is outrageous.”
Trump further attempted to justify his actions by suggesting – again without evidence and despite an indictment that included extensive photographic and video evidence of the defendants taking action – that the violence that occurred on January 6 came from “outside agitators” and that “clearly the F.B.I. involved” – a combination of confidential sources present during the riots and a conspiracy theory that undercover FBI agents incited the violence.
Some Report of the Office of Inspector General published last month showed that 26 confidential human sources were present in the events of January 6, 2021; the same report found that the FBI had no undercover agents during the riot.
Reactions
Trump’s actions were met with praise from those receiving pardons. Alex Sheppard of Powell, Ohio, was sentenced to 19 months in prison for his role in the riot, but was released early after the U.S. Supreme Court took up a case challenging the Justice Department’s utilize of obstruction charges.
As a free man,
I am no longer banned from entering our Nation’s Capital.
I no longer need one week’s notice to leave southern Ohio, nor do I need to ask for permission to leave the United States.
No more home inspections, drug tests and mandatory phone calls.
No more status…
— Alexander Sheppard 🇺🇸 (@NotAlexSheppard) January 21, 2025
In a lengthy social media post, he thanked Trump and cataloged the restrictions he will no longer face, adding: “FOR YOUR LAST FREEDOM!”
“I woke up this morning with new life, just like every other J6er,” Sheppard wrote. “Looking back, it was truly an honor to stand up for Electron Integrity along with many other amazing Patriots, to be persecuted for it, and to finally (and finally!) be vindicated.”
Jessica Watkins, a member of the Oath Keepers from Champaign County, received one of the longest sentences of any Ohioan. In 2023, she and a handful of other Oath Keepers were convicted of conspiracy, obstruction, and disorderly conduct. Watkins was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, but Trump’s commutation of her sentence reduced her sentence to January 20, 2025.
On Tuesday morning, she posted a photo on social media with the message “I’m freeeeeeee!!!”
Court-appointed public defender Heather Shaner represented 44 of the defendants on Jan. 6.
“I think it’s like Holocaust denial,” she said. “John. 6 was terrible. This was a crime against our democracy, and these blanket pardons are part of a plan to make it a walk in the park – it was great fun, it was a day of love. It was not a day of love.”
Shaner expressed concern that the pardon could mean some of them would lose access to mental health services they received through the corrections and probation system.
“Many of the people involved in the events of January 6 came to the Capitol with mental health issues,” Shaner described. (*6*)
Shaner isn’t actually opposed to the idea of pardoning some defendants — she noted that she’s joyful for those clients who will feel better about having a neat record and not needing ongoing services.
However, she added: “Most of my clients did not ask me for clemency, they knew they were guilty of what they did and expressed a lot of remorse about it.”
“I know a lot of police officers who have been injured,” Shaner said. “You can’t deny that it happened.”
Ohio officials are largely reluctant to comment
The Ohio Capital Journal reached out to several officials across the state, as well as Ohio’s U.S. senators and likely GOP candidates in the 2026 governor’s race.
Attorney General Dave Yost, Treasurer Robert Sprague and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy – all telegraphed with plans to run for governor in 2026 – did not respond to a request for comment.
Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted also did not respond. Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal, but HuffPost quoted him defending Trump’s pardons. Echoing Trump, Moreno argued that the defendants have been in prison long enough and claimed they were denied due process, although he did not present evidence or any legal arguments to support this extraordinary claim.
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno defends Trump’s January 6 pardon:
“Some of these people have been in prison for a long time. January 6 was a long time ago and they were in jail and their due process rights were denied.”
“Listen, no one is a bigger supporter of law enforcement than…
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 21, 2025
Just a week before the inauguration, Vice President J.D. Vance said it was “obvious” that those who committed violence should not be granted a pardon. In a statement Tuesday, Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, defended Trump’s overall approach.
“Because of the corrupt nature of these prosecutions,” she said, “President Trump rightly chose to grant a broad pardon to all wrongfully convicted participants in the January 6 protests.”
In a farewell to the outgoing Biden administration, Van Kirk added that his “request for presidential pardons for members of the Biden family is much more deserving of additional media scrutiny.”
Gov. Mike DeWine took a hands-off approach, with a spokesman simply noting that the governor “has made no comments on this matter.”
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