Son of Jan. 6 Rioter and Ex-FBI Agent Warn Trump's Pardons Will Encourage Far-Right Violence

[Uncle Joe]

Upon returning to the presidency, Donald Trump has granted presidential pardons to over 1,500 of his supporters involved in the violent January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, including members of far-right, anti-government militias like our guest's father. Guy Wesley Reffitt helped lead the crowd that stormed the Capitol, just weeks after his then-18-year-old son Jackson attempted to warn the FBI about his plans. Jackson Reffitt now believes that Trump's pardons will embolden far-right extremists to commit further political violence, including potential backlash against those close to them. "To completely validate actions like that is going to be explosive," says Jackson Reffitt, who is now estranged from his family and fears for his own safety.

Former FBI special agent Mike German, whose new book Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within chronicles his experience working undercover in far-right, white nationalist militias and warns of the unchecked danger they pose to American society, responds to Trump's mass pardons of January 6 insurrectionists, many of whom were members of or affiliated with far-right militias. "The pardons definitely send a message both to the far-right militant movement that political violence against Trump's enemies will be rewarded … [and] sends a message to law enforcement that there's no value in investigating and prosecuting far-right violence," says German. He also notes that right-wing extremism has already infiltrated much of U.S. law enforcement, making it harder to root out and guard against political violence.

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[Daleuhlmann]

1. Ya Think?

This was the thing that I''d feared the most from a second Trump administration: the naked politicization of the the presiden's pardon power. Nothing else says, "Committing violence and breaking law on my behalf is not a crime." As a result, there will more and worse January 6 insurrections to come. Most reprehensible is the way in which these pardons amd commutations show MAGA's contempt for not only the rule of law, but for the Capitol police officers who had valiantly tried to protect our nation's Capitol that day. Police officers and police unions that continue to support Trump should be ashamed of themselves.

[Martin68]

2. The rioters who revert to form will end up back in jail or dead if they attack police with guns.

[Srkdqltr]

3. But isn't that the point??