Some states seek to bar Jan. 6 rioters seeking office after pardons
May 28 (UPI) -- It has been four months since President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people who were involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Some of those pardoned have found opportunity in the political realm while states and local jurisdictions are considering whether to ban them from working in the government.
In Florida, Jake Lang is running for the Senate seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lang was charged for assaulting officers, among other charges related to entering the Capitol and interfering with the certification of the election.
According to the Federal Elections Commission, Lang's campaign has raised more than $28,000.
Ryan Kelley, a former Michigan gubernatorial candidate, ran for the office after participating in the Capitol riot.
In 2023, Kelley pleaded guilty after being charged for entering a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence against a person or property in a restricted building and willfully injuring or committing any depredation against any property of the United States.
Kelley has not ruled out another run for office. His campaign website is active and was updated on Jan. 22. It outlines his "Blueprint for Michigan" plan that proposes deregulation, energy plans and a program to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion in government.
Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at the University of Buffalo, told UPI he is not surprised that people involved in the riot have been embraced politically or found their background to be potentially politically advantageous.
"Some people have a very different vision of America and the country has a very complicated history," Neiheisel said. "The country has always had this kind of uneasy relationship with something like political violence because it is a nation that was born from a violent act, a revolution."
Some state and local governments have taken steps to reckon with the aftermath of Jan. 6 and Trump's pardons.
Days after the pardons were announced, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered that no one involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is to be hired by the state. Last month, the Chicago City Council followed suit, voting 44-3 on a resolution to reject applicants who were convicted of crimes related to the riot "regardless of clemency or pardon status."
Three states have mulled similar measures.
New York Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal introduced the Restrict Insurrectionists from Office Taking Act in the state senate to bar participants in the riot from serving in civil office. The legislation was introduced on the two-year anniversary of the riot.
"Up to 47 New Yorkers were arrested and charged with their roles in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots that left five people dead in the immediate aftermath, four subsequent deaths from suicide, and dozens of police officers injured," Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement.
"Our RIOT Act will bar anyone who's acted against the sanctity of our democracy from holding elected office and sends a strong message that violence is incompatible with government service. We must continue to safeguard our democracy from the extremists attempting to destroy it. "
The bill passed the state senate nearly a year ago but has not been passed by the other chamber.
Connecticut took up a similar bill during its 2023 session, barring those who were involved in the riot from being elected to office or from being employed by the state or any municipality. It has not been passed and no action has been taken since April 2023.
A bill was filed in Virginia in 2023 but was never brought to a vote. It has been left in committee and is not expected to move forward.
"It's still going to be a flashpoint," Neiheisel said of Jan. 6. "You're still going to have Democrats talking about how, 'Look, here's evidence that the Republican Party is anti-democratic.' You're still going to have Republicans saying that it was necessary. There are still Republicans who believe the 2020 election was stolen."
"It's not always clear, of course, what that tipping point is where you have a legitimate claim to political violence versus you're just doing it for your own, narrow, personal end," he continued. "That's a legacy that's with us to this day and there are probably more people now than there have been in some time who want to embrace parts of that legacy."
Pardoned rioters are being tapped to appear at political events tied to Republican organizations. Special appearances and speaking engagements emphasize the political capital that Jan. 6 has generated among the Republican Party.
Jeffrey Scott Brown of Laguna Woods, Calif., was among the first convicted for attacking police officers. In 2022, he was convicted of felony assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.
In March, Brown was invited to speak at an event hosted by a local Republican club.
James Grant of Cary, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months under supervised release after being convicted of civil disorder. He was also invited to speak at a Republican event in March.
"The whole event [Jan. 6] was a strange happening in the sense that there were just so many different ideological persuasions there," Neiheisel said. "If you look at the flags, you look at the symbols, you've got people from all kinds of backgrounds coming together, thinking that is a good idea. They all kind of came together on this course of action from very different places. Some are QAnon conspiracists -- others were some kind of more religiously motivated. There was the presence of some charismatics. It's a hodgepodge of a lot of different things on the American right that came together at one point."
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