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Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter fighting for release of fellow defendants still behind bars in D.C.

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Published  January 22, 2025 7:06pm EST
Capitol Riot
FOX 35 Orlando

Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter fighting for release of others

President Donald Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 people involved in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, but some convicted for their involvement remain behind bars.

The Brief

    • President Donald Trump pardoned 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, though some remain incarcerated.
    • Treniss Evans, who served 20 days for his role, is now advocating for others still detained.
    • Attorney Norm Pattis highlights ongoing challenges and legal implications for unprocessed pardons.

ORLANDO, Fla. - President Donald Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 people involved in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, but some convicted for their involvement remain behind bars. 

Treniss Evans took part in the January 6th Capitol riot. He made headlines as the man with the bright blue megaphone who read Trump’s tweets on the U.S. Capitol steps. He said he also led the crowd in singing the national anthem.

"Is it true you took shots of Fireball in Nancy Pelosi’s office?" asked FOX 35’s Hannah Mackenzie.

"I took shots of Fireball — it was my own whiskey, and I will apologize for my choice of whiskey, and my bad singing," Evans said. "The reality is, I was never in anyone’s personal office; that’s on the court record."

Later arrested, Evans served 20 days behind bars – in a unique sentencing.

'A six-hour or so riot has led to a four-year vendetta'

What they're saying:

"When they said felony, and I was facing 23 years, my heart dropped," Evans said. "I was the first person to receive weekend prison. I went to weekend prison at a maximum security wing of a federal detention center, locked up like Hannibal Lecter in solitary confinement, chained up where there was feces and urine strewn all over the room."

Evans is now one of the 1,500 rioters immediately pardoned by Trump on Monday, but a pardon does mean he is exonerated, according to attorney Norm Pattis.

"It doesn't mean that they're without criminal records," Pattis said. "They don't get the time that they lost back, and they're stigmatized forever by this."

Pattis represents eight pardoned rioters, though Evans is not one of them. 

"A six-hour or so riot has led to a four-year vendetta against these men and women who were sentenced to decades," Pattis said. "These guys weren't domestic terrorists and treating them as such was offensive."

Evans lives in Texas, but he is currently in Washington D.C. fighting for the release of fellow January 6 riot-goers who are still behind bars at the D.C. Jail.

"There are others who are still being held, but on state warrants where states charge them… and so the federal commutation power only reaches federal law," Pattis explained.

But according to Evans, something is not adding up.

"The problem is, this doesn’t apply to at least 15 of the remaining 20 people in the D.C. gulag jail," said Evans. "There are 15 remaining individuals that have no other charge, no other hold on them – and this jail has somehow not been able to sort it out."

What's next:

According to Pattis, if prisons and wardens choose not to cooperate with the president’s pardon, they could be opening themselves up to lawsuits.

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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by Jan. 6 rioter Treniss Evans and attorney Norm Pattis.

Capitol RiotFloridaPoliticsElectionDonald J. Trump