Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / Trump administration's reframing of Jan. 6 reignites accountability debate

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Trump administration's reframing of Jan. 6 reignites accountability debate · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: New concerns are emerging about President Trump's sweeping pardon of
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  Speaker 1: January sixth defendants, after a recent report found that nearly
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  Speaker 1: one hundred of them have been arrested, charged, or convicted
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  Speaker 1: of additional crimes since the attack in twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: Continuing efforts by President Trump and his allies to recast
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  Speaker 1: the events of that day have reignited debate over accountability
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  Speaker 1: and the rule of law. Our White House correspondent Liz
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  Speaker 1: Landers takes a closer look.
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  Speaker 2: The January sixth attack on the United States capital in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one has been called the most documented crime
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  Speaker 2: in American history. More than fifteen hundred people were charged
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  Speaker 2: with crimes related to the attack, which almost prevented the
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  Speaker 2: peaceful transfer of power pot four years later, a presidential
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  Speaker 2: pardon from President Trump only hours after he was sworn
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  Speaker 2: into office a second time. So this is January sixth.
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  Speaker 3: These are the hostages, approximately fifteen hundred for a pardon
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  Speaker 3: full part Now.
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  Speaker 2: A new study finds that in some cases, the criminal
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  Speaker 2: behavior that defined January sixth didn't stop when the riders
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  Speaker 2: left the Capitol that day. A new report from the
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  Speaker 2: non partisan publication Lawfair found that ninety seven people charged
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  Speaker 2: in connection with the Capital riot have been arrested, charged,
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  Speaker 2: or convicted of new crimes since the attack. That's a
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  Speaker 2: recidivism rate of one in sixteen convicted rioters. Lawfair's review
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  Speaker 2: found the new offenses ranged from minor infractions to serious felonies.
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  Speaker 2: Fourteen riders have been charged with sex crimes or crimes
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  Speaker 2: related to child's sexual abuse material. Others have faced charges
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  Speaker 2: like property damage and driving under the influence. One rioter
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  Speaker 2: was convicted of reckless homicide in twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 4: These acts of massive violence.
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  Speaker 2: Brendan Beloeu is a former Justice Department attorney who spent
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  Speaker 2: two years prosecuting rioters who attacked the Capitol on January sixth.
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  Speaker 4: Think it's unsurprising that so many January sixth rioters have
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  Speaker 4: since committed violence, because I think that was the point
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  Speaker 4: of Donald Trump's partons. You know, these were people that
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  Speaker 4: committed violence in the president's name. He pardoned them because
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  Speaker 4: they committed violence in his name.
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  Speaker 2: Some of those January sixth defendants Trump pardoned are now
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  Speaker 2: running for public office. Adam Johnson, the self dubbed Lectern
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  Speaker 2: guy who carried Nancy Pelosi's podium through the Capital Rotunda
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  Speaker 2: is running to be a Florida County commissioner. Tyler Dykes,
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  Speaker 2: who was sentenced to fifty seven months in prison for
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  Speaker 2: his actions on January sixth, recently lost his bid in
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  Speaker 2: South Carolina for a seat in Congress.
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  Speaker 1: I Am a January sixth defendant guns up, so.
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  Speaker 2: Did Ryan Zinc who was running for Congress in Lubbock, Texas,
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  Speaker 2: and one convicted rioder now even works in a highly
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  Speaker 2: sensitive role in the Pentagon. Elias Irizari, was nineteen years
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  Speaker 2: old when he broke into the Capitol on January sixth.
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  Speaker 2: He later called the day's events a disgrace. A Pentagon
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  Speaker 2: spokesperson confirmed that Irizari is a political point in the department,
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  Speaker 2: calling him quote a qualified patriotic young professional. The Washington
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  Speaker 2: Post reports that Irizari works as a special assistant in
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  Speaker 2: the Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Policy Office, and
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  Speaker 2: that he has a top security clearance. Last month, the
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  Speaker 2: Justice Department announced a controversial plan to try to further
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  Speaker 2: help January sixth rioters and others who feel they've been
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  Speaker 2: targeted by the US government. The one point seven seven
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  Speaker 2: six billion dollar Anti Weaponization Fund, which immediately sparked a
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  Speaker 2: bipartisan backlash. Is now on hold after a federal court
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  Speaker 2: blocked it indefinitely, and Acting Attorney General Tod Blanche told
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  Speaker 2: Congress the DOJ does not intend to move forward with
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  Speaker 2: the fund, but President Trump continues to insist those convicted
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  Speaker 2: of storming the Capitol on January sixth deserves some kind
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  Speaker 2: of monetary settlement.
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  Speaker 3: These are people that are great, people that would destroy
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  Speaker 3: their families have been destroyed.
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  Speaker 2: Many suicides. They committed suicide.
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  Speaker 4: People that went there too with love, They went there
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  Speaker 4: with lofe.
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  Speaker 3: The whole situation so absurd.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges was pinned against a
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  Speaker 2: door and trapped in a tunnel defending the capital that day.
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  Speaker 3: They filed for him, and that's all that matters to him.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't matter that they committed crimes, that they assaulted
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  Speaker 3: me and my colleagues, that they threatened Congress, that they
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  Speaker 3: tried to stop a peaceful transfer of power. All the
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  Speaker 3: matters is that they did his bidding, and he wants
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  Speaker 3: to make sure that they are willing to do that
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  Speaker 3: again in the future should he wish it.
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  Speaker 2: Hodges says he's faced harassment and death threat since he
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  Speaker 2: spoke out about what he experienced on January sixth.
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  Speaker 3: If these people were given money, then it would empower them,
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  Speaker 3: give them the resources, and make them feel like they're
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  Speaker 3: untouchable to carry out their threats and any potential further violence.
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  Speaker 2: Enrique Tario, the former leader of the Crowd Boys, was
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  Speaker 2: convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing the
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  Speaker 2: attack on January sixth. In January of this year, he
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  Speaker 2: told PBS News he has no regrets about what happened
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  Speaker 2: five years ago. Would you do it again?
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  Speaker 3: I would definitely do everything I did again, because I'm
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  Speaker 3: not guilty of that crime again, I'm saying.
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  Speaker 2: And he's not alone. Since he returned to office, President
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  Speaker 2: Trump and his administration have embraced a campaign to rewrite
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  Speaker 2: the story of January six The official White House website
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  Speaker 2: hails the pro Trump mob that stormed the US capital
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  Speaker 2: as quote peaceful protesters who were provoked by law enforcement.
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  Speaker 2: It also claims the violence that day was instigated by
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  Speaker 2: law enforcement and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last month,
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  Speaker 2: the Justice Department acknowledged it has been removing hundreds of
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  Speaker 2: news releases from its website about criminal prosecutions connected to
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  Speaker 2: January six, saying it is proud to get rid of
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  Speaker 2: what it calls quote, partisan propaganda if you can get
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  Speaker 2: Former federal prosecutor Brandon Blue says the effort to rewrite
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  Speaker 2: the narrative of January six is very dangerous.
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  Speaker 4: I think the president is trying to rewrite the history
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  Speaker 4: of the past because he knows how relevant it is
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  Speaker 4: to the future. If he can get people to forget
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  Speaker 4: January six, or, worse yet, if he can get people
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  Speaker 4: to think of it as a legitimate political discourse, then
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  Speaker 4: he knows he can get people to accept any attack
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  Speaker 4: on democracy without consequence.
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  Speaker 2: Brandon Fellows was at the Capitol on January sixth, entering
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  Speaker 2: the building through a broken window and photographed sitting and
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  Speaker 2: Senator Jeff Merkley's office. Fellows was convicted and spent more
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  Speaker 2: than three years in jail for his actions. Do you
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  Speaker 2: think your actions that day were anti American? No?
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  Speaker 5: Actually, very very American. You know it It was like
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  Speaker 5: Boston tea party light. I don't think I did anything wrong.
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  Speaker 5: If anything, I think a lot of us should have. Actually,
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  Speaker 5: you know, helped save the country and partook in a
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  Speaker 5: real insurrection.
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  Speaker 2: Fellows was among those pardoned by President Trump last year.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think that there has been a rewriting of
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  Speaker 2: what happened on January sixth.
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  Speaker 5: I think it needed to be rewritten because the narrative
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  Speaker 5: was just one sided in many ways. And also they've
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  Speaker 5: continually tried to media and at times the government has
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  Speaker 5: tried to keep it one side, of the courts have
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  Speaker 5: tried to keep it one sided. It's a very complicated
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  Speaker 5: thing to try to summarize of that day, despite only
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  Speaker 5: being four hours, There's so many different stories and a
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  Speaker 5: lot's unpack.
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  Speaker 2: Officer Daniel Hodges says that what happened that day is
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  Speaker 2: not complicated at all, and he says the record makes
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  Speaker 2: that clear.
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  Speaker 3: I think that the attack on the Capitol is one
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  Speaker 3: of the most recorded mass crimes in American history, if
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  Speaker 3: not you know, human history.
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  Speaker 5: So the.
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  Speaker 3: People have an abundance of evidence to use to judge
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  Speaker 3: for themselves. Yeah, there are absolutely people trying to change
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  Speaker 3: how we perceive the events of the day. But I
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  Speaker 3: think that the crimes and the violence and the events
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  Speaker 3: of the day will speak for themselves and people can
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  Speaker 3: judge for themselves exactly what happened.
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  Speaker 2: For the PBS News Hour, I'm Liz Landers.
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  Speaker 4: Support you trust, Support PBS News.
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  Speaker 5: Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today