NC Jan. 6 defendants find hope in Trump pardons: ‘I will never take my freedom for granted again’

The effects of pepper spray were still lingering on the personal items James Grant was able to pick up from the FBI office in Cary, North Carolina, this week, more than four years after being at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

After facing over 100 years in prison in what he called a “witch hunt” against Trump supporters, Grant is free of all charges and is taking back his liberty following President Donald Trump’s executive order. Though he was worried he wouldn’t receive a full pardon that would allow him to pursue his goal of attending law school, Trump’s executive action on day one in the White House cleared all 1,500 individuals convicted of offenses related to the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. While supporters praised the move to exonerate defendants who committed non-violent acts, critics have denounced pardoning individuals who committed more belligerent acts while on the Capitol grounds.

“So many things had to go right for us to get to this moment, and they all went right. I’m in disbelief, and it’s amazing,” Grant told the Carolina Journal in an interview. “I will never take my freedom for granted again, and I think all the January Sixers feel like that because you see how easily it can be taken from you for something that is just not appropriate at all.”

Four years ago, Grant had nearly full scholarships to several law schools but couldn’t attend any of them due to his involvement in the events of January 6, where he pushed a fence down that didn’t touch anyone. Though others directly around him didn’t face charges for pushing the fence, Grant faced up to 13 charges and the possibility of 101 years in federal prison at his trial, which led him to struggle with substances and confront his own mortality. He reflected on attempting to call his first lawyer 50 times from jail as he faced a century in prison, feeling helpless, alone, and frustrated. 

“That’s a fate some would argue is worse than death,” he said. “I had a nearly full scholarship to a couple of law schools, and I didn’t get to show up to any of them because of January 6 for pushing a fence on that day.”

Ultimately, he was sentenced to three years in prison and was released in September 2024. He criticized the FBI and prosecutors who aggressively pursued cases for political reasons, describing the whole experience in one word as “disillusionment.”

“I was really worried I would only get a commutation which would not allow me to go back to law school. So the fact that [Trump] pardoned everyone, that was so big, and so many things had to go right for him to be here.”

His voting and gun rights have been restored, he is no longer a felon, and the experience has fueled his desire to return to law school more than anything.

Other North Carolina Defendants

Roughly 50 other North Carolinians, including journalists Stephen Horn and Steve Baker, faced scrutiny for being part of the Capitol breach. In a post on X celebrating Trump’s order, Horn said that while a pardon is nice, “it won’t get me back the $100k+ in legal fees, 12 months probation, 90 hours community service, [and] reputation harm from DOJ lies.”

SEE ALSO: Independent North Carolina journalist sentenced in J6 case

Sweet. pic.twitter.com/h951MTnuah

— Stephen Horn (@stephenehorn) January 27, 2025

Baker was arrested in March 2024, pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges in November to “avoid the shaming exercise of the trial,” and was set to hear his sentence in March.

SEE ALSO: Another NC journalist who covered January 6 Capitol breach faces prosecution

“You have to forgive me if I’m a little emotional about what’s happening right now with the pardons from President Trump,” he reacted last week. “They don’t just affect my life. They affect those of hundreds of people who have been far more egregiously affected by the weaponization of the Biden DOJ.”

Now that I’m pardoned:

1 – I’m going to travel tomorrow without notifying my federal pretrial services officer

2 – I’m going to pick up my firearms

3 – I’m going to start drunk-texting my @FBI agent again

4 – There will be ‘ex parte’ communication with Judge Cooper 😉 pic.twitter.com/C4NAFyjTRQ

— Steve Baker – TPC (@TPC4USA) January 21, 2025

On a Sunday news talk show over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance accused former Attorney General Merrick Garland of applying “double standards in how sentences were applied to the J6 protesters, versus other groups.”

Meantime, Edward R. Martin Jr., the new interim U.S. attorney for Washington, DC, and a critic of the handling of J6 prosecutions, has ordered an internal investigation into charges of “obstructing an official proceeding of Congress” filed against 250 protestors from that day. In June of 2024, the US Supreme Court issued a 6-3 opinion, finding that the early 2000s obstruction law cited in the charges can only be applied to tampering with physical records.

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