HR 1

as introduced - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026) Posted on 03/17/2025 02:59pm

A House resolution
expressing the sense of the Minnesota House of Representatives condemning President
Trump's pardon of criminal participants of the January 6 insurrection who had been
found guilty of violent crimes.

WHEREAS, on January 6, 2021, a violent mob in Washington, D.C., and other locations
around the United States vandalized public buildings; threatened the lives of lawmakers, staff, and
the general public; physically assaulted members of law enforcement for several hours; and
jeopardized the peaceful transfer of Presidential power; and

WHEREAS, during the following four years, the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history,
which involved cooperation from partners in local, state, and federal law enforcement, secured
charges of more than 1,500 people for crimes connected to the attack, including 400 for violent
crimes; and

WHEREAS, every conviction associated with the attack was erased on January 20, 2025,
the first day of President Donald Trump's second term, when he issued a full and unconditional
pardon for all those who had been found guilty of crimes due to actions taken during the January
6, 2021, attack, including those guilty of violent crimes; and

WHEREAS, these assailants used bats, flags, chemical sprays, poles, stun guns, tasers, and
stolen police shields and batons to beat law enforcement officers for hours; and

WHEREAS, officers who showed up to work that day to keep our nation's Capitol safe were
choked, crushed and pinned in doorways, tased repeatedly, dragged, and beaten for hours; and

WHEREAS, several convictions were for carrying loaded firearms in the melee, mere yards
away from members of Congress and their staff and Vice President Mike Pence; and

WHEREAS, President Trump's pardon included the commutation of 14 people linked to the
extremist groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who had planned elements of the attack; and

WHEREAS, granting full, complete, and unconditional pardons to those who violently
assaulted police, causing the death of one officer, the suicides of four, and injuries to 174 others,
sends a message to law enforcement that violence against police is excusable and that their lives
are expendable; and

WHEREAS, these pardons undermine our justice system and devalue the service and sacrifices
made by United States Capitol police and all law enforcement officers to keep our country and the
seat of government safe; and

WHEREAS, erasing convictions of these violent attacks politicizes public safety and deals
a heavy blow to morale of law enforcement across the country, including Minnesota; NOW,
THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota that it condemns
President Trump's pardon of those found guilty of violent crimes for their participation in the
January 6 attack.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota
rejects any attempt to abandon or ignore the decisions reached by those in the Judicial Branch at
the state or federal level.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives is
directed to prepare an enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and that
of the Speaker, and transmit it to Governor Walz.