“J6” — Never Forget!

Former Capitol Police Sergeant testifies at Congressional hearing.

In the early 1970s, I was one of the early members of the newly-organized Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) headed up by my friend, the late Gary Hayes. Our idea behind this group of college-educated police leaders was to offer a new voice from educated police leaders as to how a free and democratic society should be policed.

Today, I offer you two important pieces of information that must remembered. The news report on CNN and others that President Trump has ordered the Justice Department to release the names of all FBI personnel who were involved in the arrest and prosecution of the January 6 insurrectionists who had recently been pardoned by a newly-elected president.

If ever there was a threat to our democracy, this was it. So the FBI complied and sent to the President over 5,000 names: almost 40% of the number of agents in the FBI! This is unprecedented in our nation’s history and a frontal assault to our Constitution and way of life. Read the full article HERE.

Recently, PERF’s Executive Director, Chuck Wexler, sent this to their members after the President, who told his followers he believed the election was stolen and continued to say it to his followers. This President then pardoned 1,500 persons legally and lawfully convicted in our courts of crimes on that day; 172 of them, by their own admission, pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers on that day:

“The events of January 6, 2021, are back in the news, and I’m concerned that the political conversation about the President’s pardons of nearly 1,600 individuals, more than 600 of whom were charged with the felony of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, has taken the focus away from what police officers endured that day. On that day, thousands attacked the U.S. Capitol building to prevent lawmakers from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. They fought with police officers for hours, and, thanks to the bravery of those officers, the riot was quelled. As of three weeks ago, 172 of these individuals had pled guilty to assaulting law enforcement. By their own admission, they assaulted police. About 140 officers were injured, including Officer Brian Sicknick, who died the following day. Four officers who responded that day have since died by suicide.

“The officers present that day risked their lives to protect American political leaders and our democratic process, and they paid an enormous price…” Check out the full report to PERF members HERE.

This week, that day of infamy becomes a day in which some people seek to remove from our memory as a peaceful protest by capitol tourists! Not only does President Trump continue to downplay the events of January 6, 2021, after he lost re-election, but now, coming back into the Oval Office steps in and pardons 1,500 felonious rioters and then force the FBI to release the names of everyone who was involved in the arrest and prosecution of those criminals!

This was not dome out of curiosity, but to intimidate the future fair and impartial policing in our democratic nation. That is what is at stake here. We can only look to the judiciary to stop this.

My only response to this is outrage! But that is the strategy, right? It comes from Steve Bannon, and it is exactly what is happening, “The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” And as the journalist Jonathan Rauch once said, “This is not about persuasion: This is about disorientation.”

This cannot be allowed to continue.