Now that President Donald Trump has followed through on his promise to pardon the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists, we are in for a tough time as a democracy. With the convicted thugs relieved of accountability for their violent and illegal actions with pardons, what will Trump and his mob do next?
About 1,000 of the 1,500 people indicted in connection with the insurrection, an attempt to delay certification of the 2020 presidential election, had been convicted or pleaded guilty. Those who assaulted police officers or destroyed government property received lengthy sentences, some exceeding 15 years.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
More than 140 officers were injured. Four rioters died. One police officer died the next day. Four officers committed suicide within seven months of the attack. About 590 of the insurrection rioters were charged with assaulting officers. Hundreds who crossed barriers or entered the Capitol without being violent received lesser charges. Their collective mission failed, merely delaying the count for a handful of hours. Democracy held, but only by a thread.
So far, Trump has avoided accountability and consequences for his actions instigating and supporting the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. He was impeached but not convicted. A federal case against him closed after the election. The reasons and methods for this failure to hold him accountable are many: the spineless inability of most Senate Republicans to convict him on his impeachment, the endless delays of his criminal cases by legal appeals fueled with election funds and dark money, his reelection powered by billionaires (Elon Musk alone provided $277 million — that we know of), and his lies, distractions and innuendoes, among others.
Trump is already taking dozens of steps toward a full authoritarian presidency: his nomination of many unqualified candidates for his cabinet, his pressure on the House and Senate to acquiesce to recess appointments of those nominations — an attempt to circumvent the Senate’s constitutional authority; his plans to institute a state of emergency and use the military for mass deportations; and many others. Pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists was just one of these scary steps.
Trump is showing his unambiguous intention to bulldoze all boundaries around presidential powers.
What might come next? With their pardons, the insurrectionists will know that they can wield vicious intimidation and violence on Trump’s behalf with impunity. A legion of other Trump followers who want to vent their pent-up anger over perceived grievances will have a green light to harass, intimidate, threaten and use violence. History shows this is how dictators solidify their power and dictatorships begin. No one will be safe.
Sickeningly, given all his freedom of speech rhetoric, Trump uses fear to silence his opponents, to remove critics from power and silence anyone he views as a threat, including those in his party. Consider his past behavior: funding primary challenges to members of his own party who disagreed with him.
But we must not give in. Silence, inaction and acquiescence multiply the risk of Trump moving our country toward becoming a fascist state. As Americans, we cannot allow this. Our love for American democracy, our rights and our freedoms, and our commitment to sustaining the American dream for our children and children’s children forbid it.
Make no mistake, we will not let pardons for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists mark the end of the American democratic experiment. What to do? Have courage. Be brave. Be fearless. Speak out.
Jim Harrison of Atlanta is a retired environmental scientist who worked for the federal government for more than 30 years.
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