Ecstatic J6 offenders look forward to pardons from 'Daddy Trump' — and retribution

Donald Trump’s reelection is electrifying the Jan. 6 offender community, prompting a wave of elated X posts anticipating presidential pardons and, in some cases, calling for retribution against the Department of Justice and congressional investigators.

“We are on the cusp of a prisoner exchange,” Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia state legislator who served three months in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol, wrote before the polls had closed on Tuesday. “Swapping patriots for traitors.”

At 1:39 a.m., when it was evident Trump would win, Evans wrote: “I can’t imagine the excitement from my fellow Jan 6 prisoners who are still in prison tonight. Hold on, guys… you are coming home!”

Adam Christian Johnson, who served a 75-day sentence for stealing then-House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s lectern on Jan. 6, posted a video of himself on X at 1:46 a.m. popping the cork on a bottle of champagne. He captioned the video: “I. Want. My. Lectern.”

Another convicted Jan. 6 offender, Eric Clark, replied to Johnson: “When we go to DC to get our pardons, we’re all going to ask Trump to let you take the lectern home with you. You’ve earned it.”

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The X account of Edward “Jake” Lang, who is currently awaiting trial in a Brooklyn, N.Y. jail on a charge of assaulting police at the Capitol, posted a message at 1:32 a.m. in all caps: “IM COMING HOME!!!!! THE JANUARY 6 POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE FINALLY COMING HOME!!!!”

Even before Trump’s reelection, prosecution had hardly dampened Lang’s militancy. In June, he had announced from jail that he was forming a “militia” alongside prominent conspiracy theorists to address potential “civil unrest” surrounding the election.

The expectation that more than 500 people convicted of violent crimes at the Capitol could receive presidential pardons and a smaller number currently incarcerated could be freed is not unreasonable, considering Trump’s statements on the campaign trail.

Trump dangled the promise of pardons for Jan. 6 offenders during campaign rallies while falsely referring to them as “hostages.” And Trump kicked off his campaign in March 2023 with a rally in Waco, Tex. that featured a recording of the so-called “J6 Prison Choir” singing the Star-Spangled Banner, overlaid with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Members of the Proud Boys, the fascist street gang that provided the engine for the attack on the Capitol, also took note.

The group’s primary Telegram channel posted a message calling the election for Trump at 1:24 p.m., adding, “We are so f---ing back!”

Leaders of the group are currently serving prison sentences for seditious conspiracy ranging from 15 to 22 years. Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys' former national chairman, told the Washington Post that prosecutors tried to get him to implicate Trump in the attack on the Capitol but that he refused to cooperate. Even as he faced sentencing, Tarrio publicly supported the former president who will be returning to the White House in January.

The Proud Boys Telegram channel celebrated Trump’s reelection on Wednesday morning with a series of graphics showing members in tactical gear thronging an oversized bust of Trump.

The channel also posted an obscene meme depicting Trump using a Sharpie to draw genitalia on the forehead of Attorney General Merrick Garland, accompanied by the words, “YOU’RE FIRED.”

The post was quickly followed with the message: “RELEASE ALL THE J6 POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW.”

Following news of Trump’s reelection, some Jan. 6 offenders simply expressed relief.

“DADDY TRUMP IS COMING HOME!” Rachel Powell, who is currently serving a 57-month sentence at a medium-security prison in West Virginia, posted on Wednesday morning. “When I get out, I will be working with the Patriot Freedom Project.”

Powell, who was nicknamed “Pink Hat Lady,” was seen in videos directing other rioters on how to take control of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Jenny Cudd, who was sentenced to two months of probation after pleading guilty to trespassing at the Capitol, posted a video on X at 3:09 a.m. central time saying, “We’re all real excited that we’re about to get presidential pardons.”

But others are calling for retribution.

Addressing a post to the FBI Washington Field Office and the Department of Justice, Treniss Evans, who spent 20 days in jail for obstruction of an official proceeding on Jan. 6, wrote on X: “Remember what you did to patriots? What legal justice do you think will be coming for you?”

He also singled out the now-defunct House Select January 6^th Committee chaired by Rep. Benny Thompson (D-MS).

“You sorry bastards in the so-called Select Committee, your time is coming too!” he wrote.

Some supporters of Jan. 6 offenders have also suggested that anonymous online sleuths who have provided hundreds of tips to the FBI to help identify wrongdoers should themselves face criminal charges.

Derrick Evans, the former West Virginia state lawmakers, rejected an appeal for unity made by Trump during his victory speech.

“Piss on ‘uniting the country,’” Evans wrote. “I want to see these treasonous scumbags in shackles facing a military tribunal.”

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