OKLAHOMA CITY — So far the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123 is not issuing any comment about President Donald Trump’s pardons and sentence commutations of the January 6, 2021 Capitol rioters.
Mark Nelson, president of the local lodge representing Oklahoma City Police officers, and the state FOP told Free Press in a message that they were not issuing a statement at this time but that, “We’re doing a bit of research on the details.”
Even though there has not been a local response, the national Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., and the International Association of Chiefs of Police denounced the actions on Tuesday.
The two representative organizations issued a joint statement criticizing the move plus at least one pardon President Joe Biden issued just before leaving office.
Key points of the statement read:
- Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety — they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law. Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.
- When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence.
Pardons and commutations
About 1,500 of the rioters were pardoned and 14 had their sentences commuted by President Donald Trump on his first day after his swearing-in.
The 14 who had their sentences commuted were members of the Right Wing extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. They were charged, convicted, and serving sentences for seditious conspiracy.
A presidential pardon erases a conviction and restores rights, but a commutation simply ends the sentence but does not remove the original conviction or the rights penalties associated with it.
The statement also mentioned an unspecified pardon by President Biden before leaving office.
It is assumed that the reference is to Biden’s commutation of the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents in a case Native American advocates have disputed since the trial.
Attack on the Capitol
The entire nation watched live on January 6, 2021, as the rioters beat, tased, and sprayed officers with bear spray.
Some made it in and rummaged through offices and even the floor of the House of Representatives.
Officers of the U.S. Capitol Police Force and members of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Police were given the responsibility to hold off thousands of angry, violent attackers who were pushing to enter the Capitol to try and force a process that would have made Donald Trump president even though he had lost the popular and electoral college vote.
Some of the rioters were wearing body armor, helmets, and were carrying clubs, tear gas, bear spray, and poly handcuffs to hold members of Congress against their will.
Some said they were looking for then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many more were shouting “Hang Mike Pence!” then the Vice President who Trump thought could execute a plan to make him continue as president.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.