President Donald Trump moved Monday to pardon virtually everyone charged in connection with the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a sweeping move that went far beyond what his top allies teased ahead of his inauguration.
The move is expected to apply to 15 people with Maine ties, including two in federal prison. One is Kyle Fitzsimons of Lebanon, who received a seven-year prison sentence in July 2023 after prosecutors said he was among “the most violent and aggressive” of the rioters. He carried out five assaults of police, including one that ended the career of a Capitol Police sergeant.
It was not clear until Trump’s inauguration on Monday whether he would pardon some or all of the more than 1,500 people charged after the riots in which a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, assaulted police officers and disrupted Congress as it certified former President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election.
Vice President JD Vance initially said violent offenders should not receive pardons but then shifted after receiving social media criticism to say people “provoked” and those “who got a garbage trial” could receive clemency. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said that Trump and Vance agreed that violent rioters should not be pardoned.
The White House said Trump commuted 14 sentences on Monday, including that of Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He also issued more than 1,500 full pardons covering everyone else convicted of offenses at or near the Capitol.
That latter group includes all of the 15 people who live in Maine or previously lived here who were charged or convicted of offenses tied to the riot. Several cases remain pending. Ten Mainers have been charged with misdemeanors, while five faced felony charges.
Fitzsimons became infamous for a photo that circulated after his arrest showing his bloodied face at the riots. The former butcher wore a fur pelt, with prosecutors saying his assault took place within five minutes. He held racist political views, telling Maine lawmakers in 2018 that he moved here to escape “multi-cultural hellholes” of Rhode Island and New York.
Another notable defendant was Matthew Brackley, a former state Senate candidate from Waldoboro who received a 15-month prison sentence in May 2024 after he pleaded guilty to assaulting police. Prosecutors said he pushed through officers who were trying to keep rioters from moving further inside the building.
Both he and Fitzsimons were still in custody as of 8:30 p.m. Monday, according to a federal inmate tracker. Trump instructed his Bureau of Prisons to release inmates immediately. He also instructed his Justice Department to stop pending prosecutions of Jan, 6 defendants.
Trump withstood a felony conviction in a hush money case in New York and charges in other criminal cases, including one tied to his alleged role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot, to beat Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election.
Trump’s move was part of a series of executive orders he unveiled Monday. Biden used the final hours of his presidency to pardon his family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot and police officers who testified about getting attacked at the Capitol. Biden said the preemptive move was to guard against potential “revenge” from Trump.
