U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, who is about to retire from the pressure on Friday, slammed President Donald Trump for pardoning rioters convicted or going through expenses for his or her function within the lethal Jan. 6, 2021, assault.
“It was, I think, a slap in the face to every police officer that was here,” Manger advised CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane in an interview shared Wednesday.
Manger was initially pulled out of retirement to take the company’s high put up after his predecessor, former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, stepped down within the wake of the lethal riot.
Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons on his first day in workplace included tons of of his supporters who had been convicted of assaulting officers, roughly 1,000 nonviolent offenders and round 200 individuals accused of assaulting police with pending circumstances. Numerous these pardoned have since been rearrested.
Manger advised MacFarlane that the day Trump issued the pardons was “probably one of my worst days in this job.”
“I think it sent a chilling message to every police officer in this country,” he stated of the pardons.
“That you can be involved in some massive public disorder event and that you could have a politician later on decide that, well, I liked what this other — this side was doing, so we’re going to pardon all these people.”
He additionally hit again at conspiracy theories tied to the riot, a few of which have been peddled by right-wing media figures and Republican lawmakers alike.
“For somebody to make up some story that, ‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad,’ — it is just not true,” he stated.
Manger has beforehand weighed in on Trump’s pardons of Capitol rioters, telling CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell in January that he was “concerned” officers would query why that they had put themselves in hurt’s means due to the transfer.
He additionally just lately declared that he was “extremely disappointed” that the household of Ashli Babbitt — who was shot and killed whereas making an attempt to get by means of a smashed glass door throughout the riot — reportedly acquired a settlement of $5 million from the federal government.
Manger, in an interview with Roll Call, stated issues on the pressure are “better than they were when I started” though he nonetheless sees room for extra enchancment — together with a necessity for extra funding to meet staffing targets.
When requested in regards to the “biggest challenge” for the division transferring ahead, he burdened that officers ought to “stay focused on the mission” and defend themselves from “political influence.”
When requested by HuffPost about Manger’s remarks, the White House shared a beforehand launched assertion by press secretary Karoline Leavitt that the president “campaigned on pardoning January 6th protestors, won the election with an overwhelming mandate, and delivered on his promise.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/retiring-capitol-police-chief-trump-jan-6-pardons_n_68379349e4b00a0537e02152