BOSTON — President Donald Trump granted pardons, commutations, and orders to dismiss criminal cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including more than a dozen men and women with Massachusetts ties.
Trump’s action came just hours after he took the oath of office and returned to the White House on Monday, marking the culmination of his yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack.
An angry mob of Trump supporters, some armed with poles, bats, and bear spray, overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows, and sent lawmakers and aides running into hiding during the riot. More than 100 officers were hurt.
Trump on Monday also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 Jan. 6-related cases that are pending before judges.
Trump described the rioters as “patriots” and “hostages,” claiming they were unfairly treated by the federal prosecutors.
Of the more than 1,500 people charged, about 250 people were convicted of crimes by a judge or a jury after a trial, while more than 1,000 others had pleaded guilty to offenses. More than 1,000 rioters had been sentenced, with over 700 receiving at least some time behind bars. No jury has fully acquitted a Capitol riot defendant.
The following Jan. 6 defendants have Massachusetts ties, according to the Department of Justice:
Kim Marie Connolly
Connolly was arrested in Boston on Jan. 20, 2023, on charges including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating, and picketing in a Capitol building, records show.
The FBI said Connolly confessed to entering the Capitol building that day, sharing several photos of herself including one that was captioned, “We’re in.”
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2023 to six months of probation, the Boston Globe reported.
Michael St. Pierre
Michael St. Pierre
St. Pierre was arrested in an unnamed part of Massachusetts on July 27, 2023.
The FBI said St. Pierre admitted to being in the Capitol building that day and confirmed he was a protester caught on video throwing a piece of a flagpole through an open doorway at a closed set of doors.
St. Pierre was convicted of a felony offense of civil disorder and three misdemeanor offenses, including destruction of government property, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and committing an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
He was slated to be sentenced on March 14, 2025.
Jacquelyn Starer
Starer, a Massachusetts doctor, was arrested in Ashland on Dec. 20, 2022, on charges including forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, and impeding federal officers.
Starer was in a crowd of rioters inside the Capitol and struck an officer with a closed fist and shouted a profane insult.
She was sentenced to nine months in prison in September 2024.
Vincent Gillespie
Gillespie, of Athol, was arrested on Feb. 18, 2022.
Gillespie was sentenced in April 2023 to 68 months in prison for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
He was among rioters in the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol who engaged in pushing, shoving, yelling, and fighting with law enforcement officers, evidence presented at trial showed.
Stefanie Chiguer
Chiguer was arrested in Boston on Jan. 18, 2022.
Stefanie Chiguer
Chiguer was arrested in Boston on Jan. 18, 2022.
Chiguer pleaded guilty in 2023 to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Mark Sahady
Sahady, the vice president of an organization called “Super Happy Fun America,” was arrested in Boston on Jan. 19, 2021, on charges including entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Sahady, of Malden, pleaded not guilty on all counts. In April 2023, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with obstruction of an official proceeding.
The Globe reported that he was sentenced to five months in prison in November 2024.
Suzanne Ianni
Suzanne Ianni
Ianni was arrested in Boston on Jan. 19, 2021.
Ianni, a former Natick town official, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
She was later sentenced to 15 days in prison, 30 months of probation, 60 hours of community service, and $500 restitution.
Troy Sargent
Troy Sargent
Sargent was arrested in Pittsfield on March 9, 2021.
Sargent pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, and four related misdemeanor offenses in June 2022.
A judge sentenced Sargent to 14 months incarceration, 24 months supervised release, and $500 restitution in December 2022.
Chase Kevin Allen
Chase Kevin Allen
Allen was arrested in Seekonk on June 30, 2021, on charges of destruction or injury to buildings or property in special maritime and territorial jurisdiction and acts of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
Allen pleaded guilty to the charges in November 2022.
Noah S. Bacon
Noah S. Bacon
Bacon was arrested in Somerville on June 30, 2021, on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, entering or remaining in the gallery of either House or Congress, Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, violent entry, disorderly conduct on capitol grounds, and obstruction of justice or congress.
Brian McCreary
McCreary was arrested in Springfield on February 4, 2021, on charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
He agreed to plead guilty in 2021 to entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority.
In 2022, McCreary was sentenced to 36 months of probation, including 42 days of intermittent incarceration and two months of home detention, a $2,500 fine, and $500 restitution.
Christopher H. Keniley
Keniley was in Springfield in September 2023 on charges including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Christopher H. Keniley
Long Duong
Keniley was in Springfield in September 2023 on charges including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Keniley was later sentenced to 10 days of incarceration, the Globe reported.
Long Duong
Duong was arrested in Worcester on June 12, 2023, on charges including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
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