In the eyes of a Washington, D.C. jury, Derek Kinnison is a criminal who took part in an insurrection. But at 412 Church Temecula Valley, Kinnison is a true Christian.
The 43-year-old Lake Elsinore man and his family received an embrace from Pastor Tim Thompson, a standing ovation and cheers at the church Sunday, Jan. 26, almost a week after Kinnison and others convicted of crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot received pardons from President Donald Trump.
RELATED: Pardons for Southern California Jan. 6 defendants include those who attacked police
“The Bible says that we weep with those who weep,” Thompson told a packed house. “Certainly nine months ago when he was going into prison, we all wept with this family as they wept. But today, we rejoice with them as they rejoice.”
Thompson welcomed Kinnison, his wife Amie and his 16-year-old daughter Faye on stage to a cheering congregation. A member of 412 Church, Kinnison talked about holding daily devotional services while incarcerated and reading the message for Jan. 20, the day he was pardoned.
It was a verse from Exodus “and it’s ‘let my people go,’” Kinnison said to loud applause.
While Kinnison was also the guest at a post-service party at the southwest Riverside County church, others said it’s offensive to honor Kinnison and others who were pardoned for their actions on Jan. 6.
“Someone who made plans to bring weapons to the Capitol in order to do whatever it was that they were planning on doing there … the church I was raised in would never have done anything like that,” said Murrieta resident Jenn Reeves, a Thompson critic. “To me, that is very much against what Christianity truly should be.”
She added: “The fact that a church would celebrate a man who not only helped plan but actually helped in the transport of weapons to the Capitol is a very dangerous precedent to set.”
Brian Levin, professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino and founding director of its Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said via email that he “fully and unequivocally support(s) the First Amendment right of others to be cringe-worthy wrong for celebrating those in the self-proclaimed ‘DC Brigade’ whose participants were duly convicted of multiple insurrection felonies.”
“I do have a question,” Levin added. “Doesn’t forgiveness, let alone celebration, elementally require acknowledgement of proven wrongdoing? A grace noticeably and condemnably lacking here.”
Kinnison said he wasn’t expecting to be taken into custody when he arrived in Washington, D.C. for sentencing. He said he told the prosecutors: “I”m going to be a prisoner for Christ. I’m not a prisoner of the (U.S. Department of Justice).”
Amie Kinnison said she felt “over the moon” about her husband’s release. Fay said she was “ecstatic,” adding: “I’m just so proud to be the daughter of a J6er.”
Thompson also incorporated Kinnison into his Sunday message for the congregation. Talking about how true Christians don’t throw pity parties for themselves, Thompson said Kinnison never complained about his troubles while in prison.
“Bad things happen to good people, and Derek knew that,” Thompson said.
Afterward, the church held a party for Kinnison featuring the food he missed while in prison — tacos.
People signed framed images of the American flag with messages reading “Welcome home! God bless you,” “May God grant you a double pardon for all that was lost” and “Great to have you back Patriot!”
Bracelets on a table at the church read “Free the J6ers.”
In an interview Sunday, Kinnison, who was sentenced to more than two years in prison, criticized what he called unfair treatment by this newspaper and other media.
“I’ve had a lot of attacks through the media and it’s led to hate mail coming to my house,” he said. “My house has been attacked.”
Kinnison said: “I understand that it’s pretty easy, especially off of reading — You Google my name and I mean it’s bad. My online presence is mostly negative.”
He added: “God calls men to be protectors. That day on Jan. 6, there were probably a couple million people at the Ellipse rally (at the Capitol). So that’s a pretty big group of people to just categorize together. Everybody had different reasons … My heart, as Pastor Tim said, is just safety. I worked security for the church.”
Kinnison said he did “some First Aid training” and brought about $500 worth of trauma gear to the Capitol.
He said he was at the Capitol “to potentially mitigate situations. Everywhere that I went as far as rallies prior to (Jan. 6), we would always engage law enforcement and say, ‘Hey, we’re here to help.’”
“That was always our heart, was to be protectors and just to try to mitigate situations,” he said. “The other flip side of that coin was, four guys — at the time I was 39 … we all had some time off work and we rented a car and we went on a road trip. We called it Cannonball Run 2021.”
Kinnison is among hundreds of people, including at least two dozen from Southern California, convicted for crimes related to the riot receiving pardons from Trump, who issued them shortly after taking office Monday, Jan. 20, and has referred to the convicts as “hostages” and “political prisoners.”
After a 17-day jury trial, Kinnison and three other Inland Empire residents — Erik Scott Warner of Menifee, Felipe Antonio “Tony” Martinez of Lake Elsinore and Ronald Mele of Temecula — were convicted in federal court in November 2023 of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding.
In addition, Warner and Kinnison were convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings, a felony, after they erased social-media chats from their phone to hide them from a grand jury probe.
The four men also were found guilty of misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
According to prosecutors, the men at the time were members of the Three Percenters, a far-right anti-government militia that believes only 3% of colonists fought the British during the American Revolution. Kinnison said Sunday he was a Three Percenter, but not now.
According to the indictment, on Jan. 6, Kinnison and the other Inland Empire men went to the Ellipse for the rally and afterward headed toward the Capitol. As they approached the Capitol about 2 p.m., Kinnison announced, “This is the storm of the Capitol,” the indictment alleged.
Kinnison was among those who advanced on a police line on the northwest lawn, and while he didn’t enter the Capitol, he and two others ascended to the Upper West Terrace intending to join Warner, who entered the building, prosecutors said.
Kinnison said Sunday he had an opportunity to enter an open door at the Capitol, but “I made the discernment that ‘OK, that’s not a welcome situation.’ I’m not here for this. People were battling with police. I’m not anybody who wants to battle with police.”
Kinnison’s attorney Nicolai Cocis confirmed the men brought with them ballistic vests, bear spray, gas masks, handguns and shotguns for defense against Antifa. Kinnison said he brought “defensive tools” as “a last resort” but had no intentions to attack anyone.
“I’ve hugged it out in the middle of the streets with Antifa,” Kinnison said.
The head of 412 Church, Thompson is well-connected to prominent conservatives.
The president’s son, Eric Trump, and Trump attorney Alina Habba headlined a May 2024 fundraiser for Thompson’s Inland Empire Family Political Action Committee, which supports Christian conservative school board candidates, including several elected to school boards in southwest Riverside County and Redlands.
Also appearing at the fundraiser was Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI. Patel appeared on Thompson’s “Our Watch” program broadcast via social media.
Thompson also has interviewed far-right media figure and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, among others.
Staff writers Arianna Clay and Brian Rokos contributed to this report.