During CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast this week, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) discussed the double standard of justice applied to protesters on January 6, 2021, noting that some people convicted of misdemeanors spent longer in pretrial detention than their sentences.
Cotton said the standards of January 6 did not apply to Black Lives Matter protesters who committed acts of violence against federal property.
He also told CNN’s Jake Tapper that there may be a case for a presidential pardon for some of those who took part in the January 6 protests.
COTTON: Well, what happened on January 6th, 2021, was protests got out of hand in Washington and turned into riots.
And as I have said from the beginning, anyone who injured police officers or committed acts of violence at the Capitol on January 6th should be prosecuted and severely punished.
Again, this is not the Democratic Party, which does not prosecute, for example, Democratic street militias who stage violent protests in front of a Supreme Court justice’s home or who deface a veterans statue directly across from the White House.
In my opinion, anyone who commits acts of violence should be prosecuted and severely punished.
Tapper: So do you disagree that Donald Trump, as president, said he would consider pardoning all of the January 6th rioters who have been convicted in court? He said all, and he doesn’t. I understand that there’s a difference between people who didn’t take part in violent protests and people who were violent or attacked police officers.
But he says they’re all on the table.
COTTON: But he didn’t say that. He didn’t say that he would.
TAPPER: No, he said to consider it.
COTTON: He said he would consider it, and I believe that’s what he did in his first term, which is that he would consider pardon requests on a case-by-case basis.
And I believe there is ample basis for pardoning many of the defendants because they did not engage in violent acts, they did not damage federal property, and in some cases they were subject to pretrial detention for periods longer than their sentences for the misdemeanors.
Some of them are likely to have their convictions and indictments overturned by a Supreme Court decision because the Biden administration has stretched the law beyond reasonable limits to go after some of the people who were in or even near the Capitol that day. This is again in contrast to the violent pro-Hamas protesters outside the White House and the Democratic street militias who are violating federal law by marching in front of Supreme Court justices’ homes, trying to intimidate them about how they will rule in certain cases.
TAPPER: I’ll point out that some critics might say it sounds like you have different standards. You take a tough, law-and-order stance on everything except issues related to President Trump and his supporters.
You seem to have it, because you take a very hardline stance on law and order.
Cotton: No.
TAPPER: But here you’re saying that they might give you a pardon if you don’t commit any violent acts.
That is not a word to use when talking about Black Lives Matter protesters or anyone else.
Cotton: Well, a lot of the BLM and Antifa riots in 2020 were not so-called peaceful protests, as some in your network have said. They were looting and rioting and committing arson and murder.
Again, the same American methods used against every MAGA hat-wearing grandma within a mile of the Capitol on January 6th were not used against the street militias who protested in front of a Supreme Court justice’s home, or the pro-Hamas crazies who defaced veterans’ statues and occupied a college campus last month.
I simply ask that the same standards be applied regardless of political affiliation. That is the essence of the rule of law.
