Opinion | Trump made a mockery of 'back the blue' by pardoning Jan. 6 rioters

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

56% : Among the convicted criminals whom Trump referred to as "hostages" unjustly arrested for their actions on a "day of love" is Ryan Nichols.
55% : " Trump and his supporters often refer to his 1.5 percentage-point victory in the 2024 popular vote as a mandate.
54% : Still another officer, Daniel Hodges, remains on active duty with the Metropolitan Police and worked to protect Trump on his second Inauguration Day.
48% : He testified to the House Jan. 6 committee: "To my perpetual confusion, I saw the thin-blue-line flag -- the symbol of support for law enforcement -- more than once being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us." To be sure, Trump's pardon-palooza didn't completely leave out the cops.
37% : Until Trump pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters, "Back the Blue" was at its most absurd during the brief period earlier this decade when modest attempts at police reform were attempted (and mostly failed thanks in large part to police union intransigence).
33% : But in the end, Trump reportedly just impulsively released them all with a one-page declaration, surprising even his own vice president.
32% : " Now that Trump has escaped prosecution for attempting a self-coup, one would think he would have at least limited his blanket pardons to "nonviolent" rioters, if only out of respect for the thin blue line.
27% : (Trump, a convicted felon, still cannot legally possess firearms, per federal law.)
22% : Now they have to deal with both the indignity of watching their attackers walk free and the fear that the same people Trump incited to attack the Capitol will now take their retribution on the officers or their families.
22% : Also, Trump pardoned two officers in Washington, D.C., who were convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct, and obstruction of justice.
21% : " The cops they attacked, meanwhile, are sentenced by Trump to live in fear.
18% : " Another former officer, Michael Fanone, previously testified that he had been "grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country" and earlier this month told CNN's Anderson Cooper, "My family, my children, and myself are less safe today because of Donald Trump and his supporters."
18% : Trump has even indicated he's "open" to hosting some of the rioters at the White House, adding, "What they did is they were protesting a crooked election.

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