A former Proud Boys leader and Jan. 6 rioter blasted President Donald Trump on social media for only commuting his prison sentence but not giving him a full pardon that would wipe his criminal record clean of all the charges connected to the insurrection.
Joe Biggs was sentenced to 17 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges after prosecutors claimed he “served as an instigator and leader” of the deadly U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
As soon as Trump returned to office, he issued a mass pardon to roughly 1,500 people who were convicted for their roles in the riot.
However, a select few people only had their sentences commuted, and didn’t receive full pardons, including Biggs. While a pardon erases a conviction from someone’s record, a commutation only reduces the prison sentence or grants freedom from jail, but the criminal conviction remains.
Now, six months after his release from prison, Biggs has posted an impassioned plea on X for a pardon, tagging the president’s account.
“We (J6ers) went to jail so Trump didn’t have to. We took the fall for him. Atleast he could do is pardon me and allow me to take care of my family. Allow me to receive my military benefits and retirement pension I worked so hard for,” Biggs wrote.
It’s unclear why only a handful of J6 convicts weren’t pardoned. The pardons and commutations granted to the people involved in the attack don’t correlate with the severity of charges or the sentences some of the rioters received.
Enrique Tarrio, another former Proud Boys leader, was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for his role in plotting the insurrection and was issued a full pardon.
Biggs stated that he only wants the same treatment.
“Yeah you took a bullet in the ear. I lost 4 years of my life and everything I had worked on up until that point. Solitary confinement will make a man go insane and yet I made it through,” Biggs posted, while pleading with the president to “help me get my life back.”
In another X post that Biggs pinned to his profile, he continued his impassioned plea for a pardon.
“The Biden regime wanted me to tell them you directed me to over throw the government and I refused. I refused to throw you under the bus @realDonaldTrump so why won’t you help me and my family get our lives back?” Biggs posted.
Biggs has been pleading for a pardon from the president since his release from prison.
In March, he told The Independent that the commutation was not enough to restart his life in society, stating, “It’s like you’re out of jail, but you’re still in jail.”
“I’m extremely disappointed in him,” Biggs said at the time of Trump. “I didn’t go to trial and blame him for it. I didn’t go and say, ‘Oh, this was Trump’s fault.’ I sat there and I bit my tongue and I ate it.”
Biggs earned little sympathy from X users. Some tagged the president to ask for a full pardon, however, most were poking fun at him and even scolded him for blaming Trump.
“You weren’t crying and whining like this on J6, you were PROUD and boasted about “storming the Capitol!”,” wrote one user who pulled up receipts of Biggs seemingly bragging about his decision to storm the capital.
“What ever happened to personal responsibility crowd…,” asked another.
One user came down hard on Biggs, “You are a f**king retard. Did Trump show up at your house put puppet strings on you and force you to break into the capitol? No you f**king moron he said no violence. And solitary confinement lol. That is based on your actions while in jail or if you are being threatening while being booked. Again that is in jail. Go cry a f**king river. You are a pathetic excuse for a man.”
Yet another added, “Bro you are crazy, you broke into the capital building and expect no consequences. You protected Trump from nothing if anything you guys are an albatross around his neck.”
“Honestly dude, you were over prosecuted but your dumbass went in. Y’all never should have gone into the capital. You let a bunch of feds and mob mentality fuck the conservative movement for years.”
Great Job Yasmeen F. & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
