At least two Wyoming residents are included under President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of about 1,500 people charged and prosecuted for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
That includes Douglas Harrington, 69, of Bedford, who was convicted of multiple offenses after breaking a Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department officer’s wrist with a flagpole.
The allegations against the other Jan. 6 defendant from Wyoming, 30-year-old Laramie man August Garcia, describe less violent conduct than the evidence listed against Harrington.
For the police officer in Harrington’s attack, who has since moved on to a different department, the pardon is “extremely disappointing.”
“I think it’s extremely disappointing that somebody can be found guilty of assaulting law enforcement and not serve any time, and there’s no punishment,” former MPD Officer Sam Mott told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday interview. “Probably not a great message to send to society — you can assault law enforcement, become guilty and still walk free.”
Harrington was sentenced in November to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution preliminarily, though the total restitution amount was still being determined, Mott said.
“I won’t see that,” he said of the restitution money. He declined to comment on whether he’ll pursue a civil lawsuit.
It’s unclear if Harrington has actually spent any time in prison.
His sentencing order says he was to report to prison on a date to be determined by probation and parole personnel. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons roster Tuesday had a number for him, but listed him as “not in custody.”
Harrington could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and his defense attorney did not respond to a voicemail request for comment.
Over-Charging
Trump’s pardon addresses the injustice of several normal Americans being targeted by former President Joe Biden’s administration with tougher charges than their conduct deserved, Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday email.
Federal prosecutors charged many Jan. 6 protestors with a 20-year felony that Congress originally crafted to combat evidence-shredding in corporate fraud causes.
Hageman and 21 others in Congress urged the U.S. Supreme Court last year to deem that charge unfitting for the rioters’ or protestors’ conduct.
The high court agreed, ruling last June that the law in question should only apply to evidence tampering.
Harrington was originally charged under that law but not convicted of it. Garcia was not charged with the evidence-shredding law.
“Many of (the defendants) should never have been charged at all," said Hageman. She said some defendants were unconstitutionally held for long periods of time before being indicted, and that Biden's Department of Justice politicized every facet of that day and "tainted every single cased through their vindictive weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
Many defendants have already spent years in jail both awaiting trial and following wrongful convictions, Hageman said.
“The bottom line is this: Democrats made January 6th a central issue in the 2024 election, and voters emphatically rejected their narrative by voting for and returning Donald Trump to the White House,” she said. “As far as I'm concerned, the book is closed on the issue. The only question now is to what extent those responsible for this mess – including Liz Cheney – should be held accountable.”
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, whose seat Hageman now holds, was preemptively pardoned by Biden on the latter’s final day in office Sunday.
Wyoming’s junior Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, said Biden has been weaponing the justice system against conservatives for four years, and now the nation can move forward, “So we can focus on what really matters: securing our borders, restoring law and order and putting hardworking Americans first.”
Don’t Agree With All Of These
Wyoming’s senior U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican, said he didn’t agree with each of Trump’s pardons.
Yet, he added, “President Trump made his intentions clear during the campaign. The vast majority of these cases are for simple trespass or picketing without a permit.”
“In contrast,” Barrasso continued, “former President Biden used the final days of his presidency to pardon murderers and grant clemency to 37 of the 40 worst convicted criminals on death row. Joe Biden then piled on with the unprecedented pardons of his own family in the final moments of his presidency.”
Moving Pieces Here
Christopher Zoukis, federal defense and prison consultancy attorney and managing director of the Zoukis Consulting Group, said the blanket pardon affects some of his clients. So, too, have clemency orders from the Biden administration.
Normally, the process of getting clemency is much more onerous: people either fill out applications with the office of the U.S. Pardon Attorney and hope those survive the screening process and make it to the president. Or they have to hire a lobbyist to plead their cause with Congress, the president or both.
Trump’s Monday pardon order merely commuted the sentence of 14 of the J6 convicts and issued a full and unconditional pardon for the rest; plus halted prosecutions against any defendants who haven’t been convicted.
Zoukis told Cowboy State Daily he was a little surprised to see the blanket pardon added in there. Trump had been indicating recently that his personnel were still reviewing cases.
“Caught me by surprise,” said Zoukis, adding that he expected the lower-level offenders, like trespassing convicts, to receive priority over others with more serious charges, like harming police officers.
“As we learned in the first Trump presidency, I guess he goes to the beat of his own drum — and that is a good thing or a bad thing depending on where you stand,” said Zoukis.
As for any outstanding restitution the pardoned people haven’t yet paid, they’re likely not obligated to pay that now, Zoukis added in a later voicemail.
But depending on the jurisdiction and the statutes of limitations, some people may still be able to sue for tort damages, he said.
On That Day
Harrington approached a line of police officers on the upper west terrace at the Capitol the afternoon of the riot, and challenged officers with what Mott described as a “come-here” gesture: an open palm with the fingers flicking inward, as if beckoning.
A presentence memorandum in the case says Harrington used the bottom of a flagpole to strike toward an officer on the line, while officers sprayed Harrington with chemicals in response.
When another rioter approached the line and made a commotion, Harrington raised his flagpole to strike officers, and Mott stepped in and thrust his baton into the air to block the blow and protect another officer, the memorandum says.
Mott said he and Harrington had eye contact at this point.
Harrington swung the flagpole down onto Mott’s left hand, wrist and helmet, the document says.
It burned, Mott recalled.
“I knew something was wrong pretty quickly,” he said. “(I felt) a burning sensation and … shock down my arm.”
Harrington vanished into the crowd, Mott said.
Mott remained on scene engaging with rioters for six to eight hours more, using his left hand throughout, he said, adding that he didn’t consider any alternative.
“You’re not going to leave your coworkers by themselves for an arm,” said Mott.
Two surgeries later, Mott’s wrist is mostly healed, though he said he’s not sure if it will ever be wholly back to normal.
What You’re Swinging
To Mott, it seemed clear the attack was intentional and not mere riot chaos. But either way, he said, Harrington caused the injury that followed.
“If you want to swing something, you are responsible for where you are swinging it,” said Mott.
Mott testified at the sentencing hearing. Harrington issued an apology there, the officer recalled.
Looking back, he has thoughts on both Harrington and on the nation’s political divide.
“I would hope that he takes this unexpected second chance and becomes positive for society, rather than divisive,” said Mott.
He said the U.S. Capitol is a beacon of hope for the free world, and Americans should treasure it. “We should not be attacking ourselves if we don’t like the result of anything,” he said, adding that people should, rather, be communicating more, and better.
A Little Pushing And Roving
Garcia was not convicted; his prosecution was recently pending in the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C.
He was accused of holding the door open for rioters at the Capitol, grabbing and pushing a Capitol police officer and spending a total of 29 minutes in the building.
His charges could have put him in prison for more than a decade, had he been convicted. But as part of his pardon order, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to halt pending prosecutions of J6 defendants.
Garcia could not be reached and his defense attorney did not respond to a Tuesday request for comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.