UPDATE (January 22, 2024, 3:12 p.m. ET): While the Fraternal Order of Police initially did not comment on the Jan. 6 pardons, the organization did ultimately release a critical statement, alongside the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Like many convicted felons, Donald Trump has a difficult relationship with law enforcement. On one hand, the president likes to at least pretend to be closely allied with the police. Indeed, the day after his second inauguration, the Republican told reporters, “I am the friend of police.”
On the other hand, Trump has also spent years railing against “dirty cops,” while condemning law enforcement officials he dislikes as, among other things, “fascists.” He has even expressed support for prosecuting members of the Capitol Police, despite the fact that they did nothing wrong.
But Trump’s relationship with law enforcement took an ugly turn for the worse when he issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 Jan. 6 criminals — including violent felons who were in prison for assaulting police officers.
Some in the law enforcement community, including current and former prosecutors, were understandably appalled by Trump’s decision. As The New York Times reported, plenty of police officers — most notably those who served at the Capitol on Jan. 6 — felt the same way.
More than 150 police officers from the two agencies were injured during the assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob four years ago. Some were hit in the head with baseball bats, flagpoles and pipes. One lost consciousness after rioters used a metal barrier to push her down as they marched to the building. Now many of those officers described themselves as struggling and depressed in response to Mr. Trump freeing their attackers.
Aquilino Gonell, a former Capitol Police sergeant, told the Times, “It’s a miscarriage of justice, a betrayal, a mockery, and a desecration of the men and women that risked their lives defending our democracy.” Harry Dunn, who also protected the Capitol on Jan. 6, added, “Everybody’s angry and sad and devastated.” For some officers, the concerns go well beyond mere disappointment with the presidential abuse. Mike Fanone, a former police officer in the nation’s capital who was violently attacked on Jan. 6, went to a local courthouse the day after Trump’s pardons to seek protective orders against the five men who pleaded guilty to violently assaulting him during the pro-Trump riot. As for the Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed the GOP ticket in the November election, the law enforcement organization was asked for its reaction to Trump releasing hundreds of violent felons who assaulted cops. “We don’t have a statement about that,” the group initially said after the pardons were issued. Among the president’s political allies, that’s an annoyingly familiar reaction.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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