By Kit Maher, CNN
Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump has issued a new pardon to a militia member involved in the 6 January, 2021, Capitol riot, covering separate Kentucky firearms offences not included in his initial Inauguration Day pardon.
In April, the appeals court for the District of Columbia rejected Dan Wilson's attempt to vacate his firearms-related sentences from the Western District of Kentucky that were transferred to DC.
"The plain language of the pardon does not apply to the Kentucky firearms offences," the appeals court stated, returning him to prison.
In January, Trump issued more than a thousand pardons and commutations of those involved with the 6 January attack on the US Capitol and said last month he was "very proud" of it.
US pardon attorney Ed Martin was one of the people who advocated for Wilson's new unconditional pardon, which was issued Friday (local time).
"Danny Wilson is now a free man," Martin posted on X, thanking Trump. "When I was DC's US Attorney and now as US Pardon Attorney, I advocated for this clemency, which the president granted Friday."
Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington DC. Photo: AFP
The White House said the gun charges were ultimately related to the 6 January investigation.
"While being investigated for conduct related to 6 January - which President Trump issued a larger pardon for in January - investigators discovered that Mr Wilson may have owned unauthorised firearms," a White House official told CNN on Saturday.
"Because the search of Mr Wilson's home was due to the events of 6 January, President Trump is pardoning Mr Wilson for the firearm issues," .
Martin announced Saturday that Trump granted another pardon to Suzanne Kaye, who was sentenced to prison for threatening to shoot FBI agents in a video posted on social media in 2021. The comments were directed at agents who were seeking to question her about her presence in Washington DC on 6 January.
Kaye was arrested in February 2021.
"On video, Kaye announced that she would 'shoot their [expletive] a-' if FBI agents showed up at her house," according to a release by the Justice Department in 2023.
Alleging "the Biden DOJ targeted Suzanne Kaye for social media posts", Martin posted on X: "President Trump is unwinding the damage done by Biden's DOJ weaponisation, so the healing can begin."
- CNN
