Trump-pardoned January 6th rioters seek financial reparations

In the aftermath of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, which resulted in four deaths and left many officers injured, a group of lawyers are advocating for financial compensation for the participants involved. Mark McCloskey, one of these lawyers, has proposed the establishment of a special panel to distribute financial damages, mirroring the arrangement for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

McCloskey and another lawyer, Peter Ticktin, have been leading efforts to secure restitution for the rioters since at least March. Their goal is to turn the losses of the rioters into financial compensation. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, has also demanded compensation for the rioters and the firing of those involved in the riot cases.

The proposed panel, known as a "voluntary nonjudicial resolution committee," would consider each rioters' case individually and assign them sums according to the harms they had allegedly suffered at the hands of the federal government. However, no information has been found regarding the establishment of such a commission.

Lawyers for the Capitol rioters argue that their clients have been unfairly prosecuted by the Trump administration. Five officers died in the days and weeks following the riot, including two suicides. Ryan Nichols, a former Marine sentenced for joining a crowd that shoved at officers in a tunnel outside the Capitol, has doubled down on his attacks against the police.

Shane Jenkins, a rioter sentenced to 84 months in prison for assaulting an officer and shattering a window at the Capitol with a tomahawk, compared the rioters to the Israelites who were enslaved and then released from bondage in Egypt, only to roam for decades through the desert. Jenkins expressed feelings of loss and disillusionment, stating that the rioters seem to feel like they are wandering in the desert without reaching the Promised Land.

President Donald Trump granted clemency to rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. It is unclear how seriously top administration officials are taking McCloskey's proposal. Trump's Justice Department has taken steps to purge federal agents and prosecutors who sought to hold the Capitol rioters accountable.

As the legal battle continues, the push for restitution and financial compensation for the Capitol rioters remains a contentious issue, with both sides presenting their arguments in the ongoing court proceedings.