Trump issues additional pardons for two January 6 rioters

Months after President Donald Trump began his second term, pardoning individuals who were convicted of crimes related to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, he’s issuing new pardons. The first of this new batch went to a militia member who was convicted of a separate Kentucky firearms charge that wasn’t included in his initial pardon and the second to a woman who threatened to shoot FBI agents.

The District of Columbia rejected an April appeal for Dan Wilson, who sought to vacate firearms-related charges that were transferred to DC from Kentucky. 

“The plain language of the pardon does not apply to the Kentucky firearms offenses,” the appeals court stated, returning him to prison.

U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin advocated for an unconditional pardon for Wilson, which was granted on Friday (Nov. 14). The White House, in a statement, concluded that the firearm charges against Wilson were in relation to the January 6 investigation.

“Danny Wilson is now a free man. When I was DC’s U.S. Attorney, and now as U.S. Pardon Attorney, I advocated for this clemency, which the president granted Friday,” Martin wrote on X.

In a statement to CNN, the White House wrote, “While being investigated for conduct related to January 6 – which President Trump issued a larger pardon for in January – investigators discovered that Mr. Wilson may have owned unauthorized firearms. Because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues.”

Martin also thanked Trump for pardoning Suzanne Kaye, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison after she made remarks on social media threatening FBI agents with violence in 2021. 

According to a Justice Department memo, Kaye recorded a series of videos on social media after FBI officials requested to speak with her about her whereabouts on January 6. In one video, Kaye said that she would “shoot their [expletive] a–” if FBI agents showed up at her house.

Martin blamed “Biden’s DOJ weaponization” for the charges and said Trump was “unwinding the damage done so the healing can begin.”