Just like sex offenders, Jan. 6 terrorists should be required to register with local police
We need a "J6 Registry" to warn people
Donald Trump pardoned his MAGA terrorists who attacked the Capitol and brutally beat up police officers on Jan. 6 for two reasons. First, to reward them for waging violence in service of his attempted coup. And secondly, to incentivize them and others in MAGA to do the same in the future--with the implicit promise of a pardon if their crimes are in furtherance of his agenda.
That is not just my opinion but also that of experts on fascism like Ruth Ben-Ghiat—who I quoted in my article on Tuesday. And now we are seeing a slew of articles quoting extremism experts that warn Trump’s pardons will “embolden the Proud Boys and other extremist groups” to believe they can engage in pro-Trump violence and Trump will later protect them with a pardon.
Adding to these very real concerns are that since they were pardoned, the leaders of The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have openly called for “retribution.” Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio--who pledged his loyalty to Trump after being released, saying, “Trump literally gave me my life back”—ominously declared on Wednesday about exacting revenge, “Now it’s our turn.”
That is why we need states to enact laws to create a “Jan. 6 Registry” in the same vein that a registry for sex offenders was established under Megan’s Law. That groundbreaking law was drafted in response to the 1994 brutal murder of seven-year-old Megan Nicole Kanka in New Jersey. Unbeknownst to the family, a violent predator previously convicted of a sex offense against a child was living across the street. This same person later abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered Megan.
Megan’s Law requires sex offenders to register with local authorities--with that information then being made available to the public. All of this was designed to enable law enforcement and private citizens to develop “constructive plans, safety programs, and victimization prevention strategies” to best protect the community from a potential threat.
We need the same type of registry for the more than 600 of the Jan. 6 attackers who were convicted or pled guilty to assaulting police officers—often with deadly weapons--and other serious felonies such as Seditious Conspiracy. Some of these people are legally speaking “terrorists”--given that DOJ defined Jan. 6 as an act of “domestic terrorism.”
For example, Daniel Ray Caldwell, a former U.S. Marine from Texas, who travelled to Washington, D.C. and brought with him the chemical spray and was “wearing glasses designed to prevent spray from penetrating his own eyes.” Caldwell sprayed at least 15 police officers with that toxic spray. He later pled guilty to assaulting officers with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Ryan Nichols, according to the Department of Justice, drove to the Capitol based on the “belief that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.” Nichols was wearing body armor as he “delivered two streams” of pepper spray “hitting multiple law enforcement officers.” Nichols also urged his fellow attackers to enter the Capitol with him, and yelled, “If you have a weapon, you need to get your weapon!” He pled guilty to two felonies and was sentenced to five years in prison.
And there’s Ronald Colton McAbee, a former sheriff’s deputy who was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for assaulting police officers. McAbee held a police officer down who had been “knocked to the ground, kicked, and stripped of his baton by other rioters” enabling the crowd to viciously beat him. The result was the officer “sustained physical injuries, including a head laceration, concussion, elbow injury, bruising, and bodily abrasions.”
Then we have the leaders of the paramilitary group, The Oath Keepers and The Proud Boys, sentenced to in the area of 20 years in prison. These men along with their co-conspirators were convicted of Seditious Conspiracy for plotting to use force to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. This crime is just one step below “Treason.”
As the evidence at trial detailed, The Oath Keepers had trained in advance of Jan. 6 and brought with them that day “paramilitary gear, weapons, and supplies – including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection, and radio equipment.”
And as federal prosecutors stated after the convictions about the Proud Boys, “No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021…they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government.”
The list goes on of Trump supporters who savagely attacked the police and waged war on our government in the name of Trump. These are violent and dangerous people who should be in prison--not living as our neighbors—but Trump freed them.
Wouldn’t you want to know if these people had moved into your neighborhood in order to protect your family? Wouldn’t the police want to know that people who brutally beat up police officers—and are now vowing “retribution”—have set up shop in their community?!
While Trump has pardoned these people, that does not mean state’s can’t protect their citizens from these dangerous people. A President’s pardon only applies to federal crimes—not state punishment for the same conduct. In fact in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the “dual-sovereignty” doctrine that enables a state to prosecute a defendant under state law after the federal government has prosecuted him for the same conduct. That means if any of these Jan. 6 felons also broke state law in their planning for the Jan. 6 attack, they could now be criminally prosecuted.
Beyond that, if a person is pardoned for a federal crime by the President, state laws that impose penalties for that conviction--like prohibiting convicted felons from voting--still apply. Thus, there is no legal prohibition against a state enacting a law that warns their residents about a potential dangerous and violent person in their midst-even if that person was pardoned by the President.
Some of these convicted felons will commit crimes again. In fact, we already had an example of that Wednesday when Daniel Ball—who had been charged with 12 felonies in connection with Jan. 6 attack including assaulting a police officer-- was arrested one day after his pardon for gun related charges. And if Trump calls on his MAGA faithful to again commit violence on his behalf, at least some will answer the call—as experts are warning us.
That is why states around the nation should enact a law to require that Jan. 6 felons register with local authorities when they move there--and then that information be made public. This law could be named after former officer Brian Sicknick who died the day after Jan. 6 attack to honor him.
But perhaps a more fitting name would be “The Donald J. Trump Jan. 6th Act.” By naming the law after Trump, it will be an eternal reminder of the role Trump played in the Jan. 6 attack--and that he then pardoned these dangerous people.
This is a great idea, you should capture that list of everyone that was charged and also convicted. Start and name and shame list and get this group to expose them and dox them to their communities.
Yes, we need that registry, but in red states like mine in FL, it will never happen. FL had more people arrested from it than any other state. What a distinction. But with a legislature that does DeSantis’ bidding, he will never allow something like that. I continue to hope that the country survives, and that our citizens can survive this “administration” to its conclusion.