President Donald Trump has pardoned two individuals connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot investigation. The pardons include a woman convicted of threatening FBI agents and a man imprisoned for illegal firearm possession discovered during the probe. These actions highlight Trump's use of clemency for supporters scrutinized under the prior administration.
On Saturday, officials announced that President Donald Trump issued two pardons tied to the investigation of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The first pardon went to Suzanne Ellen Kaye, who served an 18-month sentence for threatening to shoot FBI agents. In 2021, the FBI contacted Kaye following a tip that she might have been at the Capitol. She responded by posting a social media video invoking her Second Amendment rights and warning that she would shoot agents if they came to her home. Prosecutors described her statements as "part of the ubiquity of violent political rhetoric that causes serious harm to our communities."
Kaye testified at trial that she owned no guns, did not intend to threaten the FBI, and was not at the Capitol on January 6, facing no riot-related charges. A White House official, speaking anonymously, noted that Kaye suffers from "stress-induced seizures," including one during the jury's verdict reading, calling it "clearly a case of disfavored First Amendment political speech being prosecuted and an excessive sentence."
The second pardon was for Daniel Edwin Wilson of Louisville, Kentucky, who was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede or injure police officers and illegally possessing six guns and about 4,800 rounds of ammunition—prohibited due to prior felony convictions. Authorities found the firearms during a search of his home amid his January 6 investigation. Prosecutors accused Wilson of planning the riot for weeks, communicating with members of the far-right Oath Keepers and Three Percenters groups, and aiming to stop the peaceful transfer of power. In a November 9, 2020, message, he wrote: "I'm willing to do whatever. Done made up my mind. I understand the tip of the spear will not be easy. I'm willing to sacrifice myself if necessary. Whether it means prison or death."
At sentencing, Wilson expressed regret for entering the Capitol but said he "got involved with good intentions." The Justice Department initially argued in February that Trump's January pardons for January 6 rioters did not cover Wilson's gun offense but later reversed course. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, criticized the department's shifting stance as "extraordinary." Wilson, scheduled for release in 2028, was freed Friday evening. His lawyer, George Pallas, stated: "We are grateful that President Trump has recognized the injustice in my client's case and granted him this pardon. Mr. Wilson can now reunite with his family and begin rebuilding his life."
The White House official explained the pardon by saying "because the search of Mr. Wilson's home was due to the events of January 6, and they should have never been there in the first place, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues." These pardons are the latest in Trump's efforts to aid over 1,500 defendants from the Biden-era probe.