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The President of the United States Donald Trump issued new pardons to individuals connected to the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021, including a militia member and a woman who threatened to shoot FBI agents, thereby expanding the scope of the clemency measures he had already granted to hundreds involved in those events.
According to a report from CNN, one of the beneficiaries is Dan (Danny) Wilson, a militia member involved in the assault, who Trump had previously pardoned for actions related to January 6.
The new pardon now covers firearm offenses in Kentucky that were not included in the initial presidential grace issued on the day of his inauguration.
In April, the D.C. Court of Appeals rejected Wilson's attempt to overturn those firearm-related sentences, originally issued in the western district of Kentucky and later transferred to Washington, concluding that "the clear language of the pardon does not apply to firearm offenses in Kentucky." Following that decision, Wilson returned to prison.
The new unconditional pardon was managed by the pardon lawyer Ed Martin, who stated on the social network X that “Danny Wilson is now a free man” and recalled that, both during his time as a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia and in his current role as a pardon attorney, he advocated for this clemency, which was ultimately granted by Trump.
The White House explained to CNN that the weapons charges were “ultimately related to the investigation of January 6”, and clarified that, while Wilson was being investigated for his conduct that day —for which he had already received a broader pardon in January— the investigators discovered that he may have possessed unauthorized firearms.
"Because the search at Mr. Wilson's house was related to the events of January 6, President Trump is pardoning him for the firearm issues," said an official.
Martin also announced that Trump granted another pardon to Suzanne Kaye, who had been sentenced to prison for threatening to shoot FBI agents in a video posted on social media in 2021.
The comments were directed at the agents who intended to interrogate her about her presence in Washington on January 6.
Kaye was arrested in February 2021 and, according to a statement from the Department of Justice in 2023, she was seen in the video announcing that she would "shoot them in the [expletive]" if the agents showed up at her house.
In justifying the pardon for Kaye, Martin argued that the Justice Department under the Biden administration had “targeted” her for her social media posts, and claimed that Trump is “undoing the damage caused by the instrumentalization of Biden's Justice Department, so that healing can begin.”
That argument connects with the narrative of the president and his allies that the cases against participants of January 6 and against his supporters represent political persecution rather than a judicial response to specific crimes.
The new pardons add to a wave of over 1,000 pardons and commutations that Trump granted in January to individuals connected to the attack on the Capitol, a measure he expressed feeling “very proud” of last month.
With these actions, the former president reinforces the message of support for those who participated in that day, while distancing himself from the institutional narrative that portrays January 6 as an attempt to undermine the electoral outcome and the peaceful transition of power.
Meanwhile, civil rights organizations, prosecutors, and critics of the former president warn that these pardons send a message of impunity to those who participated in violent or threatening acts related to January 6th.
For Trump's allies, on the other hand, the new clemency measures are part of an effort to correct what they perceive as punitive excesses and a "politicization" of the Department of Justice under Joe Biden's administration, as Ed Martin repeats in his public statements.
Another wave of pardons
After taking office in January 2025, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, pardoned and commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals convicted for their involvement in the Capitol assault of 2021.
The signing of the presidential pardon took place in the Oval Office of the White House and was one of his first executive orders following his inauguration.
Trump emphasized that many of the beneficiaries of the measure were "hostages" of a judicial system that, according to him, has treated them unfairly.
Among those pardoned are members of the extremist organizations Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, responsible for leading the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
One of the most notable cases is that of the Cuban Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, who had been sentenced to 22 years in prison for "sedition."
The assault on the Capitol, carried out by Trump supporters, aimed to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden's electoral victory in the November 2020 elections.
The violent attack resulted in the death of four people and more than 140 police officers injured.
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