Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats’ Resolution Condemning President Trump’s Pardons Of Violent January 6th Rioters Who Attacked Police Officers
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to announce that all 47 Senate Democrats will introduce a resolution this week condemning President Trump’s pardons of individuals convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers during the January 6th insurrection. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
For all the talk President Trump does about standing up for law and order, he spent the first few days in office doing the opposite: pardoning lawless rioters who invaded the Capitol and attacked police officers on January 6th.
Today, I’m joining all 47 of my Senate Democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution condemning the pardons of individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers on January 6th. Senator Murray will seek passage of this resolution this week.
I hope our Republican colleagues join us in condemning these pardons. Many of them saw the violence of January 6th firsthand. I did. This should be an easy resolution to pass.
By handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, President Trump is effectively saying: you want to attack our brave police officers? That’s okay, you’re exonerated.
The president is saying, you want to try to thwart our democracy? Fine by me.
The president is saying, want to break the law and engage in political violence? Be my guest.
Listen to this: one individual who received a pardon was convicted of seditious conspiracy. A few days after the attack he said that: “[His] only regret is that they should have brought rifles.” That man is being pardoned. What a disgrace!
To repeat: “[His] only regret is that they should have brought rifles.” And President Trump pardoned him? Who could believe that? Who could believe in America that would happen? A few years back, no one would even imagine it. That's, in some ways, how our country has deteriorated, with President Trump doing what he's doing.
The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6th, whether they engaged in violence or not, committed a very serious crime. There’s no gray area here – especially not when it comes to the people who attacked police officers. The pardons must be condemned by the Senate, and Democrats till try to do that through our resolution this week.
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