By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-21 13:46:58 | Updated at 2025-01-22 01:12:13
11 hours ago
One of the January 6 rioters pardoned by Donald Trump celebrated the president's move by immediately cutting off his ankle monitor.
Miami native Gabriel Garcia, 44, was among about 1,500 rioters who received a pardon from the Republican during the first hours of his second term on Monday.
'Four years of this on me, four years, and I'm just happy to be able to get out of the way and get back to a normal life,' the former Army captain said, as reported by NBC Miami.
'I just walked in the Capitol to peacefully protest,' Garcia said. 'I’m not charged with violence, I didn’t hurt anybody, I didn’t destroy property – so, therefore, yes, it’s very accurate what he did today in giving us that full pardon.'
Garcia, a former Proud Boy, was sentenced to a year in prison after he filmed himself inside the Capitol as he taunted then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to 'come out and play.'
Also pardoned was Ethan Nordean, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy over his role in the Capitol riot.
Nordean is a known member of the Proud Boys in Washington state, where he was filmed knocking out an Antifa protester armed with a baton in 2018.
Peter Schwartz, A Kentucky resident sentenced to 14 years in prison for felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, celebrated his pardon by going to In N Out Burger.
Former Proud Boy Gabriel Garcia, 44, cut off his ankle monitor as soon as president Donald Trump announced the pardons of the January 6 riots on Monday
Ethan Nordean was also pardoned for his role in the Capitol riot. Nordean is a member of the Proud Boys in Washington, where he was filmed knocking out an Antifa protester in 2018
Schwartz has a long criminal record and was on probation when he attacked Capitol police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol with his wife.
He was armed with a wooden tire knocker when he and his then-wife, Shelly Stallings, joined other rioters in overwhelming a line of police officers on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, where he threw a folding chair at officers.
Conservative influencer Isabella Maria DeLuca was also among the pardoned rioters.
DeLuca was caught on camera 'removing, and aiding and abetting other rioters in removing, a table' from a Capitol office known as ST-2M before 'passing it to rioters outside through another broken window.'
The table 'was subsequently used to assault law enforcement officers guarding the Lower West Terrace Tunnel' according to the record.
'Last March, I was arrested by seven armed FBI agents, my apartment was raided, and my phone was seized. Tonight, I am honored to have received a pardon from President Trump,' she said on X.
'I want to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for the overwhelming love, prayers, and unwavering support you’ve shown me throughout this ordeal. Your kind messages, encouragement, and belief in me made all the difference, giving me the strength to face the emotional and mental challenges of this nightmare. I will never forget the outpouring of compassion and solidarity from so many of you. Thank you for standing by me during one of the darkest times of my life.'
Conservative influencer Isabella Maria DeLuca was also among the pardoned rioters
Peter Schwartz, A Kentucky resident sentenced to 14 years in prison for felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, celebrated his pardon by going to Eat N Out
Garcia, a former Proud Boy, was sentenced to a year in prison after he filmed himself inside the Capitol as he taunted then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to 'come out and play'
Trump has pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers, using his clemency powers on his first day back in office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.
Trump’s action, just hours after his return to the White House on Monday, paves the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent attacks on police, as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of failed plots to keep the Republican in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
The Capitol riot left more than 100 police officers injured as the angry mob of Trump supporters — some armed with poles, bats and bear spray — overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows and sent lawmakers and aides running into hiding.
While pardons were expected, the speed and the scope of the clemency amounted to a stunning dismantling of the Justice Department’s effort to hold participants accountable over what has been described as one of the darkest days in the country’s history.
Casting the rioters as 'patriots' and 'hostages,' Trump has claimed they were unfairly treated by the Justice Department, which also charged him with federal crimes in two cases he contends were politically motivated.
Casting the rioters as 'patriots' and 'hostages,' Trump has claimed the January 6 rioters were unfairly treated by the Justice Department
Ethan Nordean, the self-described 'sergeant-at-arms' for the group's Seattle chapter, was charged with obstructing Congress, aiding and abetting and entering restricted grounds as part the mob that breached the Capitol building
Trump said the pardons will end 'a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years' and begin 'a process of national reconciliation.'
The pardons were met with elation from Trump supporters and lawyers for the Jan. 6 defendants. Trump supporters gathered late Monday in the cold outside the Washington jail, where more than a dozen defendants were being held before the pardons.
It’s unclear how quickly the defendants may be released from prison. An attorney for Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys national chairman who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, said he expected his client to be released from prison Monday night.
Democrats slammed the move to extend the pardons to violent rioters, many of whose crimes were captured on camera and broadcast on live TV. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it 'an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution.'
