Former Representative and vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Liz Cheney (R-WY), is again criticizing the GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. This time Cheney calls out Trump’s promise to free the January 6 rioters who have been convicted of crimes — and who he calls “hostages.”
Cheney wrote: “Donald Trump and his collaborators say the 1/6 rioters in DC jail are ‘hostages’ and should be freed. The truth: over 90% are in jail for crimes involving assaulting police. No sane person would want to free people who attack police.”
Note: Trump has said that he would “most likely” pardon “a large portion of them,” and that one of his “first acts” in office, if he is re-elected, would be to “Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongly imprisoned!”
Cheney provides a link to the Just Security website which lists the population of Jan. 6 inmates in D.C. jails with their names, bios, and photos taken of them that day at or near the Capitol.
Donald Trump and his collaborators say the 1/6 rioters in DC jail are “hostages” and should be freed. The truth: over 90% are in jail for crimes involving assaulting police. No sane person would want to free people who attack police. https://t.co/SY4dO47wCj
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) April 2, 2024
Twenty-seven of the rioters have been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers; 19 have been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty; only 2 have not been charged for assaulting officers but for “other serious crimes.”
Note: Just Security is based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.
Like Cheney, Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY) also recently called out Trump and MAGA on his January 6 “hostages” revisionism, posting a photo of the January 6 riots in response to a post by MAGA Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) which featured a show of force and camaraderie among NYPD officers after the killing of NYPD police officer Jonathan Diller.
D’Esposito wrote “Don’t ever cross us,” to which Goldman responded “Except when trying to protect the peaceful transfer of power…”
Except when trying to protect the peaceful transfer of power… https://t.co/C1OwjcN15d pic.twitter.com/ihm0YY053E
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) March 31, 2024