After the deadly events that took place on Jan. 6th on Capitol Hill, hundreds of rioters in attendance of the violent attempted siege have since been arrested by the FBI. In his last days in the Oval Office, Donald Trump prepared a list of presidential pardons as his final act as ruler of the nation. He notably pardoned Kodak Black and Lil Wayne, clearing all the federal charges on their records, in addition to some other big names in hip hop. Not included on the list was Tiger King star Joe Exotic, in addition to the hundreds of Trump supporters facing charges for their role in the Capitol riots.
After the violent storming on the hill that left five dead, the legal teams of hundreds of Capitol rioters are preparing their defenses after Trump departed office without pardoning anyone charged in connection to the event. The lawyer of one rioter in particular Jake Angeli, the QAnon follower who was pictured in a viral image wearing horns with no shirt while carrying an American flag, says his client regrets being duped by the president.
“The request was of extraordinary value in that it accorded Trump an opportunity to do what his followers believed would have been the ‘honorable’ thing to do,” said the rioter's attorney Al Watkins, according to KMOV4. “Mr. Chansley, along with many others who were similarly situated, are now compelled to reconcile a betrayal by a man whose back they felt they had for years."
"He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the President, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made," Watkins continued in the interview with a local news station.
Angeli is facing federal charges of civil disobedience, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and other charges relating to the riot.