Amna Nawaz:

New concerns are emerging about President Trump's sweeping pardon of January 6 defendants after a recent report found that nearly 100 of them have been arrested, charged, or convicted of additional crimes since the attack in 2021.

Continuing efforts by President Trump and his allies to recast the events of that day have reignited debate over accountability and the rule of law.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, takes a closer look.

Liz Landers:

The January 6 attack on the United States Capitol in 2021 has been called the most documented crime in American history. More than 1,500 people were charged with crimes related to the attack, which almost prevented the peaceful transfer of power.

MAN:

We have a breach of the Capitol, breach of the Capitol!

Liz Landers:

Four years later, a presidential pardon from President Trump only hours after he was sworn into office a second time.

President Donald Trump:

So this is January 6, and these are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon, full pardon.

Liz Landers:

Now a new study finds that, in some cases, the criminal behavior that defined January 6 didn't stop when the rioters left the Capitol that day.

A new report from the nonpartisan publication Lawfare found that 97 people charged in connection with the Capitol riot have been arrested, charged, or convicted of new crimes since the attack. That's a recidivism rate of one in 16 convicted rioters.

Lawfare's review found the new offenses ranged from minor infractions to serious felonies; 14 rioters have been charged with sex crimes or crimes related to child sexual abuse material. Others have face charges like property damage and driving under the influence. One rioter was convicted of reckless homicide in 2025.

Brendan Ballou, Former Federal Prosecutor:

These acts of massive violence.

Liz Landers:

Brendan Ballou is a former Justice Department attorney who spent two years prosecuting rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6.

Brendan Ballou:

I think it's unsurprising that so many January 6 rioters have since committed violence, because I think that was the point of Donald Trump's pardons. These were people that committed violence in the president's name. He pardoned them because they committed violence in his name.

Liz Landers:

Some of those January 6 defendants Trump pardoned are now running for public office.

Adam Johnson, the self-dubbed lectern guy who carried Nancy Pelosi's podium through the Capitol Rotunda, is running to be a Florida County commissioner. Tyler Dykes, who was sentenced to 57 months in prison for his actions on January 6, recently lost his bid in South Carolina for a seat in Congress.

Ryan Zink, Pardoned January 6 Defendant: I am a January 6 defendant. Guns up.

Liz Landers:

So did Ryan Zink, who's running for Congress in Lubbock, Texas. And one convicted rioter now even works in a highly sensitive role in the Pentagon. Elias Irizarry was 19 years old when he broke into the Capitol on January 6. He later called the day's events a disgrace.

A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed that Irizarry is a political appointee in the department, calling him -- quote -- "a qualified patriotic young professional." The Washington Post reports that Irizarry works as a special assistant in the special operations and low-intensity conflict policy office and that he has a top security clearance.

Last month, the Justice Department announced a controversial plan to try to further help January 6 rioters and others who feel they've been targeted by the U.S. government. The $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, which immediately sparked a bipartisan backlash, is now on hold after a federal court blocked it indefinitely.

And acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress the DOJ does not intend to move forward with the fund. But President Trump continues to insist those convicted of storming the Capitol on January 6 deserve some kind of monetary settlement.

Donald Trump:

These are people that are great people that were destroyed. Their families have been destroyed. Many suicides. They committed suicide. People that went there to -- with love. They went there with love.

Daniel Hodges, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department:

The whole situation is so absurd, right?

Liz Landers:

Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges was pinned against a door and trapped in a tunnel defending the Capitol that day.

(Screaming)

Daniel Hodges:

They fought for him, and that's all that matters to him. It doesn't matter that they committed crimes, that they assaulted me and my colleagues, that they threatened Congress, that they tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. All that matters is that they did his bidding. And he wants to make sure that they are willing to do that again in the future should he wish it.

Liz Landers:

Hodges says he's faced harassment and death threats since he spoke out about what he experienced on January 6.

Daniel Hodges:

If these people were given money, then it would empower them, give them the resources and make them feel like they're untouchable to carry out their threats and any potential further violence.

Liz Landers:

Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing the attack on January 6. In January of this year, he told PBS News he has no regrets about what happened five years ago.

Would you do it again?

Enrique Tarrio, Former Proud Boys Leader:

I would definitely do everything I did again because I'm not guilty of that crime. And he's not alone.

Liz Landers:

Since he returned to office, President Trump and his administration have embraced a campaign to rewrite the story of January 6. The official White House Web site hails the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol as -- quote -- "peaceful protesters" who were provoked by law enforcement.

It also claims the violence that day was instigated by law enforcement and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last month, the Justice Department acknowledged it has been removing hundreds of news releases from its Web site about criminal prosecutions connected to January 6, saying it is proud to get rid of what it calls -- quote -- "partisan propaganda."

Former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou says the effort to rewrite the narrative of January 6 is very dangerous.

Brendan Ballou:

I think the president is trying to rewrite the history of the past because he knows how relevant it is to the future. If he can get people to forget January 6, or, worse yet, if he can get people to think of it as legitimate political discourse, then he knows he can get people to accept any attack on democracy without consequence.

Liz Landers:

Brandon Fellows was at the Capitol on January 6, entering the building through a broken window and photographed sitting in Senator Jeff Merkley's office. Fellows was convicted and spent more than three years in jail for his actions.

Do you think your actions that day were anti-American?

Brandon Fellows, Pardoned For January 6 Convictions: No, actually, very, very American. It was like Boston Tea Party-lite. I don't think I did anything wrong. If anything, I think a lot of us should have -- actually helped save the country and partook in a real insurrection.

Liz Landers:

Fellows was among those pardoned by President Trump last year.

Do you think that there has been a rewriting of what happened on January 6?

Brandon Fellows:

I think it needed to be rewritten because the narrative was just one-sided in many ways. And, also, they have continually tried, the media, and, at times, the government has tried to keep it one-sided. The courts have tried to keep it one-sided. It's a very complicated thing to try to summarize that day.

Despite only being four hours, there's so many different stories and a lot to unpack.

Liz Landers:

Officer Daniel Hodges says that what happened that day is not complicated at all. And he says the record makes that clear.

Daniel Hodges:

I think that the attack on the Capitol is one of the most recorded mass crimes in American history, if not human history. So the people have an abundance of evidence to use to judge for themselves.

Yes, there are absolutely people trying to change how we perceive the events of the day. But I think that the crimes and the violence of the events of the day will speak for themselves. And people can judge for themselves exactly what happened.

Liz Landers:

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Liz Landers.