Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.
Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump was blasted online Tuesday night over his pardoning of Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot participants after he praised police during his speech to a joint session of Congress.
“F— YOU!!!,” tweeted former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn as Trump spoke. “YOU A–H— YOU PARDONED OUR ATTACKERS.”
Dunn was one of the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol from a horde of Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, as they stormed the complex. A joint session of Congress was meeting that day to certify the election of President Joe Biden in the face of false claims by Trump that he had actually won the 2020 election.
Hours after being sworn in for a second non-consecutive term on Jan. 20, Trump issued full pardons for about 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the insurrection.
Rep. Madeleine Dean, in her own tweet on Tuesday night, wrote, “Less than 24 hours after taking office, Donald Trump pardoned the violent criminals who attacked our Capitol on January 6.”
“This isn’t fair, equal, and impartial justice,” wrote Dean, a Pennsylvania Democrat. “It’s complete disrespect for the rule of law and the police and first responders who keep us safe.”
Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas., tweeted, “The height of hypocrisy. Trump talks a big game about standing with … the blue, yet on the first day of his administration he pardoned hundreds of cop-beaters who tried to steal an election on January 6, 2021.”
And Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., called out Trump, writing on X, “Purging hundreds of FBI and DOJ agents who investigated the Jan 6 insurrection — career law enforcement officers, not political appointees — does not make us safer, more secure, or prosperous.”
Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., tweeted, “FACT CHECK: President Trump claims to stand with law enforcement. But his pardoning of January 6 insurrectionists has put officers’ lives in danger, including in Indiana.”
Rep. Judy Chu tweeted that “Trump insults the American people by saying, ‘let’s bring back law and order.”
