Capitol Police chief on possible Jan. 6 pardons: ‘What message does that send?’

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger is questioning what message would be sent to officers across the country if rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are pardoned.

“What message does that send?” Manger told The Washington Post on Sunday, a day before the fourth anniversary of the attack.

“What message does that send to police officers across this nation, if someone doesn’t think that a conviction for an assault or worse against a police officer is something that should be upheld, given what we ask police officers to do every day?”

In the interview, Manger, who was hired after supporters of President-elect Trump breached the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results, declined to directly comment about Trump’s promise to pardon many of the Jan. 6 defendants once he returns to office. Trump has vowed to pardon Jan. 6 defendants within the first hour or even “nine minutes” of returning to the White House.

Manger argued that the focus should be on "police officers who are asked to do the things that they’re asked to do, and the community supporting them when they’re hurt, injured, assaulted or killed."

More than 100 police officers were injured during the attack. One Capitol Police officer died of a stroke a day after suffering injuries on Jan. 6, and four others died by suicide in the days and months after.

Manger spoke with the Post ahead of Monday’s certification of the 2024 election results, which will solidify Trump’s victory on the fourth anniversary of the attack.

Police will be on high alert for the certification and other high-profile events in Washington, including former President Carter’s funeral and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who has become a fierce critic of Trump, is spending the anniversary fighting against the potential pardons.

He detailed the beating he suffered on Jan. 6 in a new op-ed and said it’s “devastating” that Trump could “erase the justice” law enforcement sought.

Trump also has threatened retribution against his political enemies, particularly those who opposed and investigated his role in the riot.

Lawmakers like Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) say they aren’t worried, but Gonell said he’s concerned.

In the Post interview, Manger emphasized that police are better prepared for political violence than they were four years ago and the public should expect a peaceful transfer of power.

He also highlighted how no police officer wants to have to assess a person’s political belief, arguing that the public should back its law enforcement officials, no matter their political affiliation.

“I just think that there’s a line that you cross when you assault a police officer, injure a police officer, kill a police officer, that it should be looked at very carefully, because pardoning someone who does something like that sends a message to every single law enforcement officer in this country that you may or may not really matter, depending on someone’s political outlook or depending on what you were involved with involves the wrong person’s family,” Manger told the Post.

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