I Prosecuted the Capitol Rioters. They Have Never Been More Dangerous.

[Celerity]

On Jan. 6, 2021, Jalise and Mark Middleton, a married couple from Texas, trespassed onto the Capitol grounds and joined thousands of rioters gathered at the building’s West Front.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/opinion/trump-pardon-jan-6-capitol.html

https://archive.ph/FJk90



The assembled mob was assaulting a thin line of officers, and pepper spray wafted through the air. Rather than retreating in the face of violence, the couple pushed up against the makeshift barrier the police had established, hit officers and tried to drag one into the crowd. They gave up only after they were pepper-sprayed themselves, and though they did not make it into the Capitol, they were proud of what they did: Afterward, Ms. Middleton wrote on Facebook, “We fought the cops to get in the Capitol and got pepper-sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!”

I know this because I was one of the scores of lawyers who prosecuted the rioters, and was part of the team that tried the Middletons specifically. (On Thursday, I left the Justice Department, and speak only for myself.) One moment from their trial has stuck with me. Sitting in the courtroom in the awkward minutes before their verdict was announced, I noticed that Mr. Middleton was wearing “TRUMP” socks, with the president’s face stitched into the side. That small sign of fealty struck me as incredibly sad. The Middletons were ready to go to prison for a man who, quite likely, didn’t care about them at all.

The Middletons were convicted on all counts, including charges of assaulting federal officers. But on Monday, Mr. Trump pardoned them and nearly 1,600 other people who attacked the Capitol in his name. I think he did so not out of sympathy for the rioters, but because their freedom serves his interests. For while some convicted rioters seem genuinely remorseful, and others appear simply ready to put politics behind them, many others are emboldened by the termination of what they see as unjust prosecutions. Freed by the president, they have never been more dangerous.

Take Stewart Rhodes, whose Oath Keepers group staged firearms and ammunition near Washington on Jan. 6 in anticipation of a “bloody and desperate fight.” Or Enrique Tarrio, whose Proud Boys led rioters into the Capitol and who had declared just after the 2020 election that while he and his followers would not start a civil war, they would be sure to “finish one.” They are now free to pursue revenge, and have already said they want it. Upon his release this week, Mr. Tarrio declared that “success is going to be retribution.” He added, “Now it’s our turn.”

snip

[doc03]

1. It is just a matter of time before one of the J6 prosecutors winds up dead. They have

already made threats against them. Some of the J6ers are the worst of the worst.

[Klarkashton]

2. The bulk of that crowd were domestic abusers

Petty felons, KKK and Nazis.
Trumps vanguard of maga 2.0