A crowd stood outside the D.C. Central Detention Facility and waited for hours Monday night for more than a dozen people to be released in the wake of President Donald Trump鈥檚 order to commute the sentences and pardon or dismiss the cases of over 1,500 people connected with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Among those waiting were friends, family and other people who were pardoned, including Stewart Rhodes, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy at a federal facility in Cumberland, Maryland. He was freed Monday night.
鈥淚 think it’s a good day for America,” Rhodes told reporters. “All the wrongs being undone. So none of these people should have been here in the first place. None of them were tried in a fair trial.”
The D.C. Police Union meanwhile expressed frustration at the decision to pardon those involved with the Jan. 6 riot. In a statement released Tuesday night, it said, “our stance is clear 鈥� anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, without exception.”
Robert Morss was also released late Monday night in Pennsylvania after the pardon came down. He immediately drove to the D.C. jail where he was once held.
鈥淲e’re here to show support,” Morss said. “I got people inside that I care about.鈥�
Morss was found guilty and sentenced to prison for assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of an official proceeding, along with robbery.
鈥淚 had years of my life destroyed. I have no money left. Half of my friends and family don’t even speak to me anymore. My brothers disowned me. We went through hell in a handbasket, and yet, people that took over city blocks in Seattle, nothing happens to them,鈥� Morss said.
Brandon Fellows was also convicted on charges related to Jan. 6 and has held a vigil outside the D.C. jail for months for fellow inmates. He spent over a year in the facility.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen the progression that we helped bring to the jail, fighting for prison rights in here, fighting for prison reforms and for our constitutional rights,” Fellows told 百花视频. “There’s lots of violations that were done to us in there.鈥�
Fellows said he is now scared for the more than 200 incarcerated individuals that are being released across the country.
鈥淚鈥檓 scared for some of the people that are coming out to nothing. Maybe they don’t have support at all. There will be some of those people. I know some of those people. I’m scared that they’re going to have a really tough time getting out,鈥� Fellows said.
At least two inmates were released from the D.C. jail after the presidential pardon.
An official with the Trump administration was even on site as two brothers from Pennsylvania were released.
Matthew and Andrew Valentin both pleaded guilty in September to two counts each of assaulting police. One of the brothers sprayed a canister of chemical irritant at police and also attempted to take an officer’s baton.
百花视频’s Scott Gelman reported from the scene on Tuesday afternoon. He spoke with Greg Hunter, a defense lawyer out of Northern Virginia who is representing a man who is set to be released.
“On the whole I’m not so sure the pardon is a great idea, but for my individual clients, I’m thrilled that it’s going to be over for them,” Hunter said.
He added that the immense amount of cases “dumped on the (D.C.) courts” right after the pandemic caused problems in getting proper defense for lesser misdemeanors.
“It’s going to be really hard to cope with that. And they did a remarkably good job dealing with it, and but to have it end in a day is a little weird,” Hunter said. “It’s hard for me, as a defense lawyer, to say that these guys are special and should get pardons when so many other criminals don’t. 鈥� It’s hard to say that this is a just and fair outcome.”
Jake Lang, 29, of New York, was also released Tuesday night. He was charged with assaulting police officers, among 10 other charges in connection with Jan. 6.
“If anything has to change, (the justice system) has to change,” added Jonathan Pollock, who was charged with assaulting police officers and released Tuesday. “We’ve seen from the inside how corrupt this prison system is.”
DC officials react
The D.C. Police Union, which represents over 3,000 of the city’s officers, in its statement said,
“As we grapple with this disappointment, the DC Police Union remains committed to advocating for justice, not only for those who have suffered attacks in the line of duty but also for those within our ranks who have been wronged by the system.”
It went on to say the pardon process should be used to correct “two glaring miscarriages of justice,” citing as the case of D.C. police officers, Officer Terrance Sutton and Lieutenant Andrew Zabavsky, who were wrongly convicted of murder last September in connection to the October 2020 death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown during a police pursuit.
In a statement, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson wrote, “It is disturbing that anyone has been absolved for their participation in the insurrection against the United States back in 2021.
鈥淛an. 6 was not just an assault on Congress and an assault on democracy, but an attack on law enforcement. More than 140 officers were injured in the attack on the Capitol. Those who support police do not pardon the individuals who assault police.鈥�
百花视频 reached out to the U.S. Marshals for comment.
百花视频’s Scott Gelman, Mike Murillo and Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
漏 2025 百花视频. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
