'We don't have a statement': Massive pro-Trump police union ducks comment after J6 pardons

The Fraternal Order of Police, one of the nation's largest labor organizations for police officers, endorsed President Donald Trump — but now that he has pardoned hundreds of people convicted of attacking police, they have nothing to say on the matter.

According to S.V. Dáte of the Huffington Post, the group flatly rebuffed his request for comment.

"The Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Trump for president. They congratulated him on his win in November," Dáte posted to X. "Here is what they had to say when I just asked them about Trump releasing HUNDREDS of violent felons who assaulted cops: 'We don't have a statement about that.'"

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Trump promised throughout the campaign and during the presidential transition to pardon people convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in an attempt to prevent former President Joe Biden from being certified. In recent weeks, he and Vice President J.D. Vance had suggested he would review cases individually, possibly to limit the pardons only to those convicted of nonviolent offenses like unlawful picketing or trespassing.

However, on his first day in office, Trump instead issued a blanket pardon for around 1,500 people, including not just those who attacked police officers, but the ringleaders of paramilitary organizations like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States.

The move has left even some Republican senators scrambling to distance themselves, with Rep. Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying the pardons could create precedent that "police officers could potentially be assaulted and there's no consequences," and that the release of certain rioters could pose "a legitimate safety question here on Capitol Hill."