‘I Didn’t Do Anything’: Pardoned ‘January 6er’ Says He Was Railroaded, Rejected Plea Deal

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump on Monday commuted or pardoned all individuals convicted of offenses related to the “events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

Trump’s mass-pardon actions followed then-President Joe Biden’s extensive use of the pardon power. On his last day in office, Biden issued preemptive pardons for the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack and for several members of his own family.

Trump stated in his proclamation that the clemency would start the “process of national reconciliation.” On Tuesday, a crowd gathered outside of the D.C. Central Detention Facility in anticipation of the immediate release of the pardoned individuals held there.

The Daily Signal spoke with people in the crowd, a few of whom had been charged with crimes related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Mike Picciuto had been charged with several felony and misdemeanor offenses related to entering the Capitol that day. He told The Daily Signal that his case had been dismissed at about 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday. 

“For the first year, I was pretty scared out of my mind of what was going to happen, and then I kind of forgot about it, because I had kids. I had moved around, started a family. So, you know, life kind of happened, and then I was going to work one morning, in January of last year, and about 15 FBI agents got out of their cars, pointed guns at me, and told me to put my hands up (and dropped everything I had). They threw me in a truck, and you know now, I’m here.” 

Picciuto said he had been put in detention for one day before being released pending the outcome of his case. He had not expected to be arrested.

“I was caught, so out of the blue. I thought they had the wrong guy, honestly, when it happened. I mean, it had been three years at that point. I don’t do social media. Not because of January 6. I just thought it was a huge waste of time. And I don’t watch the news. I wasn’t paying attention to everything going on. Obviously, once it happened, it was a very rude wake-up call.”

Picciuto said that he was looking at serving a maximum of 47 years in prison. 

“They gave me a plea deal, which was awful. It was basically just the felonies. They took away the misdemeanors, and they were, like, ‘You can take the felonies.’ That’s not a deal. ‘What are you doing?’ So, yeah, I never even considered their plea.”

The Daily Signal asked if he had expected to be pardoned on Trump’s first day in office.

“Well, not at first. No, I thought. I didn’t think my life was over, but I was pretty scared that it was,” he said.

“But yeah, later on, you know, once pardons started becoming a topic, like in the mainstream media, and you know, on Truth Social, and other sources. Yeah, I was definitely hopeful for sure. Because, I mean, I didn’t do anything. They were just overcharging me. My attorney and I have watched all the bodycam footage and everything. My attorney is, like, ‘There is no way in hell. You didn’t assault anybody.’ So, he was hopeful. However, the prosecutor literally said, ‘My boss will not let me drop [the case], because she said you have to take the assault,’ essentially is what she said. She said, ‘I can’t drop that.’”

When asked how the charges affected his life, Picciuto explained that he felt very lucky. “I had full financial support. I had already been working for myself. So, I didn’t lose my job. I didn’t lose my home, you know. I was able to support my family still.”

He stated he had come out to support the other pardoned individuals. “They had it way worse than me,” he said. “You know, me standing out in the cold for a couple hours, it’s nothing.” 

The Daily Signal also interviewed Kevin Loftus, who explained that he “was busted out by Trump last from the [Philadelphia] federal detention center. I still got my prison clothes.”

Loftus said that he had been sentenced in 2022 to three years’ probation for a crime related to Jan. 6. 

“That was the deal I cut with them because I was only charged with a misdemeanor. I definitely lost. I didn’t get violent with anybody. I’m not that person. I’m a Trump guy. Trump people respect the police. They back the plan. So, once I smelled tear gas inside the building, I just exited the building,”

Loftus told The Daily Signal that the FBI tracked him down because he had put pictures on social media. 

“I put the picture up on Twitter and Facebook, and my whole life turned upside down overnight. January 7, I was No. 28 on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. So, if you go to the FBI.gov, and you go to the January 6 thing, and you look at the pictures, you know, the wanted pictures, I’m No. 28 on the list. So, the first day, I was already wanted. Driving home, I knew I was wanted by the FBI, so I turned myself into the FBI because like I said, I’m a law-abiding citizen. We’ve been, we’ve been beat down pretty hard.”

Loftus explained that he plans to restart his life.

“I’m going to try to get my job back. Yeah, my family is always there for me, you know. But I got a ride to Texas, riding to Texas in a truck with a big American flag on the back, all the way to Texas. We drove here from Philly in that same truck, the big American flag on the back. … It’s definitely a victory run.”

Loftus said he never doubted Trump would pardon him.

“I just didn’t think it would be so fast. I thought it would be Wednesday or something. So, promises made, promises kept,” he said, adding:

“I’ve been asked, you know, I’ve been pardoned, how do I feel about people that may have done other things, and they got pardoned. Well, that’s President Trump’s decision. Who he pardoned, he pardoned.

“I don’t have anything to say. I got mine. I’m happy because people like me don’t get them, you know what I mean? Everyday people don’t get presidential pardons. I got one.”

The post ‘I Didn’t Do Anything’: Pardoned ‘January 6er’ Says He Was Railroaded, Rejected Plea Deal appeared first on The Daily Signal.