On the morning of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, retired Green Beret Master Sergeant Jeremy Brown issued a hopeful statement, calling it “the 6th most important day” of his life, after his five daughters’ births. Brown compared his anticipation to the uncertainty and suspense he felt returning from his first combat deployment as an Army Ranger. For the first time in 40 months, he said, he felt “hope.”
However, that hope was dashed when MSgt Brown was excluded from the broad J6 pardons issued by President Trump’s executive order later that evening. Initially told he would be released, Brown was later informed it was a mistake.
Brown’s legal troubles are complex. He faced charges in two jurisdictions: a misdemeanor trespass case in Washington, D.C., for serving as security at the U.S. Capitol during the January 6th protests, and unrelated charges in Florida following a 2021 raid on his Tampa home. Federal agents executed a warrant tied to the D.C. case, leading to allegations of Fourth Amendment violations due to the raid’s scope and the misdemeanor nature of the charges.
During the raid, agents allegedly found firearms violating the National Firearms Act, grenades with no forensic ties to Brown, and a supposed classified document later proven to be a template he created for secure data entry. Despite weak evidence, Brown was convicted on several charges.
After 20 years of honorable service, MSgt Brown has spent 1,209 days in prison, seemingly overlooked in the January 6 pardons despite ongoing appeals leveraging recent Supreme Court precedent.