As the leader of the police union, Jim Palmer's primary responsibility is to support the well-being of the more than 10,000 men and women in blue throughout Wisconsin.
Now Mr. Palmer and police across the country say their safety may have been undermined by the nation's chief executive, who led the president's law-and-order campaign and had the support of many local and national union chapters.
Why did we write this
Following President Trump's pardon of the Jan. 6 rioters, police are questioning the long-term implications for policing and public safety.
On the first day of his new term, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people convicted or charged with felonies for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The National Association of Police Organizations and other police unions are now opposed pardonsaying that violence against officers is an attack on American tradition and the recognition of law and order.
In defending the Jan. 6 violence, Trump supporters argue that police failed to hold social justice rioters accountable. But the police arrested at least 11,000 people during the 2020 protests, according to BuzzFeed.
“The police … give meaning to the Constitution,” says Michael Scott, a former police chief in Lauderhill, Florida, and now a criminologist at Arizona State University in Tempe who opposes clemency. “What [meaning] essentially being revised. This is a very deep thing.”
As the leader of the police union, Jim Palmer's primary responsibility is to support the well-being of the more than 10,000 men and women in blue throughout Wisconsin.
Now Mr. Palmer and police across the country say their safety may have been undermined by the nation's chief executive, who led the president's law-and-order campaign and had the support of many local and national union chapters.
On the first day of his new presidency this week, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people convicted or charged with felonies for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that left more than 130 police officers injured. He telegraphed his intention to grant clemency on January 6, but the immediate and near-total reprieve (a total of 14 defendants had their serious sentences commuted rather than pardoned) surprised many Americans.
Why did we write this
Following President Trump's pardon of the Jan. 6 rioters, police are questioning the long-term implications for policing and public safety.
“A lot of officers are frustrated,” said Mr. Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
The National Association of Police Organizations, of which the WPPA is a member, strongly opposed pardon Tuesday. Likewise, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police shared concerns that when those who commit crimes—especially violent acts against police—face no consequences, “it sends a dangerous message that can embolden others.”
Unions also criticized former President Joe Biden, who commuted the sentence of a man convicted of killing law enforcement officers before leaving office this month. However, their joint statement followed President Trump's actions on Inauguration Day.
Police and public safety are at stake
Given this resistance, President Trump's pardons, especially for those convicted of assaulting police, could be a political miscalculation.
For many Americans – most of whom oppose pardon for the Jan. 6 rioters, it corrodes the notion that violence against officers is an attack on American traditions and understandings of law and order.
“When police officers are killed or wounded, it's almost comparable to political assassination,” says Michael Scott, a former police officer in Madison, Wis., and now a criminologist at Arizona State University in Tempe. “There is a risk that some people will perceive this action as the president saying, 'You are soldiers of our revolution.'”
Many of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6 acted under instructions from President Trump. false claims of winnings in the 2020 election and sought to prevent the certification of Mr. Biden's victory that was scheduled to take place that day.
Concerns about President Trump's pardons are not simply about abstract principles. People who physically attacked officers on January 6 and against whom officers testified in court are being released. These people heard President Trump call them “patriots” and “political prisoners.”
Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader convicted of sedition for his role in the Capitol riot, called for retribution against those who investigated and prosecuted the Jan. 6 defendants.
“The people who did this should feel the heat,” Mr. Tarrio said in a podcast after his release this week. “We need to find them and put them behind bars for what they did.”
At least one former D.C. law enforcement officer said this week he unsuccessfully sought a protective order against his Jan. 6 attackers.
Many police officers have enjoyed Trump's pro-police banter over the past decade, especially after controversial incidents, including the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, sparked protests against police reform across the country. Trump's early support from police unions likely played a role in his 2016 victory.
But union opposition this week to the new presidential pardon is not a surprise, experts say.
“If their support is truly based on [the belief] that Trump is committed to a more aggressive understanding of the criminal justice system, but that is not the case,” says Benjamin Levin, a professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Those who attacked the U.S. Capitol were pardoned included those who did not commit violence, as well as those who carried guns, stun guns and knives in the melee, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The jury also found some guilty on sedition conspiracy charges, which refers to activities that undermine the state without directly attacking it.
Defending pardon
At the White House this week, Mr. Trump defended pardoning journalists.
“They served years in prison,” Mr. Trump said, according to press reports. “They shouldn’t have served,” he said, adding: “We pardoned people who were treated incredibly poorly.”
People convicted of harming or killing police officers typically face the harshest sentences compared to others convicted of crimes.
In defending the January 6 violence, Trump supporters often suggest that social justice rioters on the political left have failed to be held accountable. But during the 2020 protests, some of which included rioting, police arrested at least 11,000 peopleAccording to BuzzFeed.
Mr. Trump also defended his move, citing Mr. Biden's many pardons, including to members of the Jan. 6 House committee and his own relatives.
While the avalanche of presidential pardons may set a troubling precedent, Professor Levin says there is also room for meaningful reform in the US criminal justice system, including raising reform skeptics' awareness of how abstract concepts of crime and punishment play out in the real world. .
“Part of what's interesting about the reaction to Jan. 6 is how much Trump and his supporters are more willing to look at the context of punishment,” he says.
At the same time, one of the defendants in the January 6 case objected to Trump's actions. Pamela Hemphill rejected her presidential pardon, telling local newspaper the Idaho Statesman that accepting the pardon “it would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation.”
Her sense of outrage was reflected in the response from police unions this week.
“There is a genuine and very deep concern within American law enforcement that much of what they have sworn allegiance to for a long time is under threat,” says Professor Scott, who also served as police chief in Lauderhill, Florida. . “The police… give meaning to the Constitution. What [meaning] essentially being revised. This is a very deep thing.”
