Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, January 20, 2025. Not even 24 hours later, he pardoned over 1,500 people for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building.
Out of the 1,500 people pardoned, 11 were Wisconsinites. One of them was Michael Fitzgerald from Janesville, according to Channel 3000.
Fitzgerald was prompted to attend the Capitol riots by a Facebook post telling Wisconsinites about a bus to D.C. to see President Trump in the flesh. Fitzgerald claims this was the reason he went to the Capitol, according to Channel 3000. In later reflections, he wished he had left after Trump’s address to the nation, but he did not.
Fitzgerald was reportedly an active participant in what he denies to be an insurrection. He stood near the front of the crowd, entered the Capitol and remained inside the building for 40 minutes, according to his criminal complaint.
Though Fitzgerald claims he was pushed inside the Capitol by the crowd, his criminal complaint directly states, “Fitzgerald was near the front of the line of rioters, participating in the push against law enforcement officers.”
Fitzgerald found a coveted spot on the FBI’s most wanted list at #32 and turned himself in to authorities Jan. 9. He had to wear an ankle monitor for three months along with three years of federal pretrial supervision.
But, this trial, along with thousands of others, will no longer happen because of Trump’s ridiculous and unconstitutional blanket pardon.
The insurrection resulted in roughly 140 injured officers, at least five deaths associated with the event and millions of dollars in damages to our country’s Capitol building. Trump has every right to issue executive orders and pardons, but a blanket pardon issued to over 1,500 people who directly undermined the Constitution and the values of the U.S. is disappointing and, frankly, embarrassing.
For someone who claims to be a leader focused on decreasing crime — and deporting immigrants to do so — a blanket pardon for Capitol stormers seems to be an action very forgiving to serious crime. Trump promised to focus on immigrants with criminal records for deportation, according to USA Today. But, the criminal records of the 1,500 citizens pardoned for their crimes don’t seem to matter to him.
While Trump allows his crime-committing followers to live their lives unscathed, he is actively operating under the assumption that immigrants are criminals and therefore unworthy to remain within our borders. While the crimes committed by immigrants are worthy of deportation, the crimes of Trump supporters aren’t even considered crimes.
Trump even announced to the entire nation during the presidential debate on Sep. 10 that crime rates are “through the roof” and dumped the blame on immigrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.
This points to the larger issue of Trump’s wrongful criminalization of immigrants. Data on immigrants and crime is unfinished, but a myriad of studies show a lack of evidence that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born American citizens. In actuality, first-generation immigrants are predisposed to lower crime rates, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
Moreover, FBI reports show that violent crime in the U.S. has actually been on a fairly steady decline after a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, with homicide falling 11.6% in 2023 and violent crime falling 3%. These statistics made 2023 the year with the steepest decline in homicides ever recorded, according to the New York Times.
Though the true data about crime rates is readily accessible, around two-thirds of Americans believe that crime has increased in the past year, according to a Gallup poll. Trump preaches to his supporters about how FBI data is “fake” and that crime is increasing, despite the statistics saying otherwise.
Immigrants benefit our economy tremendously, regardless of their legal status. Looking at New York City specifically, immigrant New Yorkers contribute billions of dollars to the economy in both spending power and tax revenue. Furthermore, in the 1970s, New York City faced a fiscal crisis that was amended by a wave of immigration increasing the city’s population and boosting public revenue. The New York City that Trump lived and thrived in was a city built by and supported by the very same immigrants he seeks to deport.
I say all of this to assert the simple fact that Trump has a warped view of crime if he is willing to pardon 1,500 Americans who staged an insurrection against the government. And an insurrection is what it was. He is not honing in on deporting immigrants because he is concerned with the safety and lawfulness of our country — his claims about fighting crime are a front for xenophobia.
Trump relies on misinformation to spread his agenda and he uses the people who believe his lies to further enforce white supremacy in a country where it is already very much so present. There is nothing more important at this time than staying informed and fact-checking. Not everything your president tells you is the truth, nor is everything the president does constitutional.
Alexia Becker ([email protected]) is a junior studying English literature.