At least five people pardoned by Trump for Capitol attack accused of new crimes

The number of president’s supporters accused of committing new crimes after Donald Trump pardoned them for their roles in the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack recently increased to at least five.

Ryan Nichols, 35, became the latest such Capitol attacker on 10 May, when authorities in Harleton, Texas, say he threateningly displayed a handgun to a person with whom he was arguing in a church parking lot.

Nichols in November 2023 had pleaded guilty in connection with the insurrection at the Capitol from Trump supporters after his first presidency ended in defeat to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. Among other things, he acknowledged attacking officers with pepper spray and making a video during the riot in which he said, “It’s going to be violent and … if you are asking, ‘Is Ryan Nichols going to bring violence? Yes, Ryan Nichols is going to bring violence.’”

A federal judge later sentenced Nichols to five years and three months in prison. But Nichols was freed early when he was unconditionally pardoned along with 1,500 other participants on the first day of Trump’s second presidency in January 2025.

Then, on 11 May, the sheriff’s office of Texas’ Harrison county – which includes Harleton – said its deputies encountered Nichols one day earlier while responding to a complaint about “a person reaching for a firearm during a dispute outside the church”. Investigators learned Nichols had confronted someone in the church’s parking lot and continued doing so even after that person tried to leave, a sheriff’s office statement said.

The alleged victim reported turning away from the confrontation and trying to usher his family towards their car while asking Nichols to go away. The victim alleged that he eventually turned around to face Nichols, who then raised his shirt up, showed a gun and wrapped his hand around the weapon’s grip.

“The victim advised that he was in fear for his life due to this action,” and deputies arrested Nichols on a count of deadly conduct, the sheriff’s office said in its statement.

He was also booked on unrelated warrants alleging harassment. County jail records show Nichols was released two days later on bond in the amount of $8,000.