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Police say Jan. 6 pardons carry future risk for law enforcement

As a police union boss, Jim Palmer has the ultimate duty to support the well-being of over 10,000 men and women in blue throughout Wisconsin.

Now, Mr. Palmer and police across the nation say that their safety may have been undermined by the nation’s chief executive, who ran a law-and-order presidential campaign and benefited from endorsements from many local and national union chapters.

Why We Wrote This

In the wake of President Trump’s pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters, police question the long-term effect on police and public safety.

On Day 1 of his new term in office, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people convicted or facing criminal charges for the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

The National Association of Police Organizations and other police unions have now opposed the pardons, saying that violence against officers is an attack on America’s tradition of – and appreciation for – law and order.

In opposing the Jan. 6 punishments, Trump supporters charge that social justice rioters on the left haven’t been similarly dealt with. But police arrested at least 11,000 people during the 2020 protests, according to a BuzzFeed tally.

“Police … give meaning to the Constitution,’’ says Michael Scott, a former chief of police in Lauderhill, Florida, and now a criminologist at Arizona State University in Tempe who opposes the pardons. “That [meaning] is essentially being renegotiated. That’s profound stuff.”

As a police union boss, Jim Palmer has the ultimate duty to support the well-being of over 10,000 men and women in blue throughout Wisconsin.

Now, Mr. Palmer and police across the nation say that their safety may have been undermined by the nation’s chief executive, who ran a law-and-order presidential campaign and benefited from endorsements from many local and national union chapters.

On Day 1 of his new term in office this week, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people convicted or facing criminal charges for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, injuring more than 130 police officers. He had telegraphed his intent to issue Jan. 6 pardons, but the immediate and near-total reprieve – just 14 defendants had serious sentences commuted rather than pardoned – surprised many Americans.

Why We Wrote This

In the wake of President Trump’s pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters, police question the long-term effect on police and public safety.

“Many officers are disappointed,’’ says Mr. Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.

The National Association of Police Organizations – of which the WPPA is a member – firmly opposed the pardons Tuesday. Likewise, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police jointly voiced concerns that when those who commit crimes – particularly violent acts that target police – don’t face consequences, “it sends a dangerous message that could embolden others.”

The unions also criticized former President Joe Biden, who, before leaving office this month, commuted the sentence of someone convicted of killing law enforcement officers. However, their joint statement followed President Trump’s Inauguration Day action.

Carlos Barria/Reuters

After being inaugurated, President Donald Trump signed documents confirming pardons for over 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, at the White House Oval Office in Washington, January 20, 2025.

Police safety – and public safety – at stake

Given this pushback, President Trump’s pardons, particularly for those convicted of attacking police, could be a political miscalculation.

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