At least nine Kentuckians charged, convicted or sentenced with committing direct violence against officers in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol received a full pardon from President Donald Trump Monday.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that 10 Kentuckians who were convicted of related crimes and serving a prison sentence have now been released.
The executive order granting clemency to more than 1,500 people charged with crimes at the 2021 riot was one of Trump’s first actions after taking office.
A Kentucky Public Radio review of federal court records shows at least 30 individuals receiving a pardon either lived in Kentucky at the time of the riot, or were arrested there. Of those, 23 have already been sentenced, five have been convicted but not yet sentenced, and two have been indicted but not yet convicted.
Eight of the 10 individuals who were released from federal prison after the pardon were convicted of assaulting officers who were defending the U.S. Capitol Building. They were assaulted by means such as spraying them with mace, bear spray and fire extinguishers, pulling them down steps and hitting them with objects. Some of the officers were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Trump stated in his proclamation the broad clemency “ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
In addition to the “full, complete and unconditional pardon” of those already convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6, Trump also ordered the U.S. attorney general to ensure that all currently held in prison “are released immediately.” He also directed the attorney general to “pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments” against those currently charged.
The Kentuckian who was due to spend the most time in federal prison before the pardon was Peter Schwartz. He was sentenced to 14 years for assaulting officers with a chair and dousing them with pepper spray. Federal records show he was due to be released in April of 2033, but released from custody Tuesday.
Another Kentuckian recently charged with assaulting officers had his charges dropped Wednesday before facing trial. Andrew Kyle Grigsby of Louisville was indicted just last week on five felonies, alleged to have used bear spray against officers.
Though a federal judge granted a motion to dismiss Grigsby’s charges Wednesday, he is not yet a free man. He is currently incarcerated in a Kentucky prison, following his guilty plea last year for two counts of possessing or viewing of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.
Asked about the Trump pardons, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky said they were a fulfillment of the president’s campaign promise.
“Nobody should be surprised by these pardons because it was a campaign promise that President Trump has firmly stood behind since announcing his candidacy,” Andrew Westberry stated.
Jonathan Levin, the spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party, countered in a statement, that “there is zero justification for pardoning the violent insurrectionists who viciously attacked our Capitol and brave law enforcement officers on January 6. Instead of denouncing this dangerous extremism, Kentucky Republicans openly applauded it last year.”
A resolution passed by the Republican Party of Kentucky last year stated that many Kentuckians who protested at Capitol on Jan. 6 “have been wrongfully detained for exercising their constitutional rights” and that information about that day’s events “is being withheld from the public.”
“The Republican Party of Kentucky acknowledges the pressure and duress that many innocent January 6 protesters have endured, having been wrongfully accused or detained as prisoners in Washington, D.C., and whose lives and their families, have been adversely damaged while exercising their constitutional rights,” the resolution stated.
Trump has for many years referred to those charged and convicted of crimes at the Capitol as “patriots” and “hostages.” He was impeached by the U.S. House shortly after the Jan. 6 riot for "incitement of insurrection," but acquitted by the Senate in a nearly party-line vote.
Trump was indicted in 2023 on felony charges for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost, including a months-long campaign of lies about the election results that spurred violence by his supporters at the Capitol, which briefly delayed the counting of votes that secured the victory of Joe Biden. These charges were dropped shortly after Trump’s 2024 victory over Biden, reflecting the U.S. Justice Department’s position that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.
Michael Fanone, a former D.C. police officer who was knocked out by a rioter and had a heart attack after being hit with a stun gun, criticized Trump and his party in an appearance on CNN after the pardons.
“Right now I think that the Republican Party owns a monopoly on hypocrisy when it comes to their supposed support of law enforcement, because tonight the leader of the Republican Party pardoned hundreds of violent cop assaulters,” Fanone said.
Trump had hinted that he would examine Jan. 6 defendants on a case-by-case basis, but instead issued a blanket pardon to all but 14, who instead received a full commutation and early release. Vice President JD Vance said just before the inauguration that those who committed violence during the riot “obviously” should not be pardoned.
Asked Tuesday why he pardoned Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez, who used the stun gun on Fanone, Trump said he’d “take a look” at the case and then changed the subject. Asked if far-right groups behind some of the most violent attacks at the Capitol deserve a place in the national political conversation, Trump answered that “we’ll have to see.”
Here is a closer look at some of the Kentuckians who received a full pardon from Trump.
Peter Schwartz
Schwartz, of Morganfield, was convicted by a federal jury of nine felonies. Those include four counts of felony assault against officers using a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced in May 2023 to 14 years in prison.
Court records show Schwartz brawled with officers outside the Capitol Building, throwing a chair and dousing them with pepper spray. He also distributed pepper spray to other rioters, including his wife, who used it against the officers.
The day after the riot, Schwartz posted on Facebook that a civil war had broken out. “What happened yesterday was the opening of a war,” Schwartz wrote. “I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at war. It would be wise to be ready!”
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta told Schwartz he was guilty of creating chaos and mayhem like the country had never seen.
“You are not a political prisoner,” Mehta told Schwartz. “You’re not somebody who is standing up against injustice or fighting against an autocratic regime.”
Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Tuesday that he was in custody at a California prison and was due to be released April 25, 2033. By Wednesday, the records showed he left custody on Monday.
In a post on X Tuesday, an account posted a photo purporting to be Schwartz eating at California chain restaurant In-N-Out Burger, writing: “What do you do when your a J6 er and you have just been released from prison after 4 long years. Go to @innoutburger_!! Thank you @POTUS for the pardon!”
Shelly Stallings
Stallings, who was married to Schwartz at the time of the Capitol insurrection, pleaded guilty to five felonies, including assaulting an officer with pepper spray. She was sentenced in April 2023 to two years in prison.
Stallings asked the court for leniency, saying Schwartz was physically abusive and coerced her into attending the D.C. rally-turned-riot. Her attorney asked for one year of home incarceration, while prosecutors recommended a four-year sentence.
As of Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Stallings was in custody at a Nashville prison and due to be released next month. By Wednesday morning, the records showed she was released from custody on Tuesday.
Stephen Chase Randolph
Randolph, of Harrodsburg, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon — including one of inflicting a serious injury — and civil disorder, receiving an eight-year prison sentence in September 2024. He also received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution.
Early in the riot, video shows Randolph and several other convicted defendants picking up a metal crowd control barrier and pushing it into a line of officers to force their way closer to the Capitol. One officer was struck in the face, throwing them backward against the stairs. Prosecutors said the officer lost consciousness and suffered a concussion.
Randolph also jumped over the barricade and grabbed an officer, staying on the Capitol grounds for hours as the riot progressed.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records on Tuesday showed Randolph was still in custody at a Illinois prison and due to be released in May of 2031. By Wednesday morning, the records showed he was released on Monday.
Michael Sparks
A federal jury convicted Sparks on felony counts of obstructing an official proceeding and civil disorder, as well as several misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds. He was sentenced in August 2024 to 53 months in prison, as well as 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 of restitution.
Sparks, of Elizabethtown, was the very first rioter to enter the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, as video surveillance showed him climbing through a window broken by other rioters. Once inside, he was part of a mob that chased an officer up a flight of stairs, yelling “This is our America! This is our America!”
Shortly before driving to D.C., prosecutors showed that Sparks wrote “We want a civil war to be clear,” on the social media site Parler. He also posted to Facebook that, “It’s time to drag them out of Congress. It’s tyranny,” and that he had “give[n] up on democracy.”
Once on the Capitol grounds, he turned towards a nearby camera and said that he believed the 2020 election was stolen by President Barack Obama and “the Italian people.” He then predicted that Vice President Mike Pence “is going to deem you, President Trump. Four more years of the presidency.”
As of Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Sparks was in custody at an Ashland prison and due to be released in July of 2028. By Wednesday morning, the records show he was released Tuesday.
Joseph Howe
Howe, a friend of Sparks from Elizabethtown, pleaded guilty to felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and obstructing an official proceeding. He was sentenced to 50 months in prison, 12 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
According to prosecutors, Howe — wearing a tactical vest, goggles and a gas mask — grabbed a riot shield from a U.S. Capitol police officer, after which a mob of rioters attacked the officer, leaving him with a concussion and head trauma that required treatment at a hospital.
Howe then used what appeared to be bear spray or pepper spray against the police guarding the top of the stairs at the Capitol Building. After further confrontations with police, in which he used a baton taken from the police, Howe was then among the first rioters to breach the building.
Inside the building, Howe then pushed through a line of officers, grabbed a fire extinguisher and fired it toward a group of police, hitting one directly in the eyes.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records on Tuesday showed Howe was still in custody at a Wisconsin prison and due to be released in March of 2027. On Wednesday morning, the records showed he was released Monday.
Daniel Edwin Wilson
Wilson, also from Elizabethtown, pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. He was sentenced in August 2024 to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
According to court records, Wilson had conspired with others for weeks leading up to Jan. 6 on an encrypted messaging application, plotting to “corruptly obstruct or impede Congress” and prevent the transfer of power. He also identified himself in group chats as a member of the Gray Ghost Militia.
In late December, he wrote: “it's been crossing my mind if we go to a Civil War do we try to take Washington DC first or do we try to take state capitals first." He also wrote that he is “ready to lay my life on the line. It is time for good men to do bad things."
Prosecutors showed he coordinated with other rioters at the Capitol through a live voice push-to-talk communication platform available on cell phones. As he approached the Capitol, he said: "Hey, pass the word, Badlands, as fast as you can, the people are pushing on the Capitol. We need hands on deck." He also shared a similar message to a group called "Oath Keepers general chat."
The Oath Keepers is a far-right militia group that had several of its members convicted on seditious conspiracy counts for their actions on Jan. 6. Court documents released during those trials showed two Oath Keepers from southern Ohio discussed plans to take refuge on “hundreds of acres” in the Kentucky mountains with “20+” Oath Keepers, saying they could dig a network of tunnels there like the North Vietnamese Army.
As of Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Wilson was in custody at a West Virginia prison and due to be released in November of 2028. By Wednesday, the records indicated he was released Tuesday.
Luke Hoffman
Hoffman of Dover pleaded guilty to two felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers at the Capitol. He was sentenced in September of 2024 to 20 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Hoffman was among a crowd of rioters that surged past a police line on the Capitol grounds, attacking one officer and attempting to take away their baton. He later used pepper spray against another officer defending the Capitol.
Once at the Capitol Building, he let another rioter clad in body armor and a helmet climb on top of his shoulders, who used that position to attack the officers with a wooden pole.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records on Tuesday showed Hoffman was still in custody at an Ohio prison and due to be released in March of 2026. On Wednesday morning, the records indicated he was released Monday.
Clayton Ray Mullins
Mullins, from Magnolia, pleaded guilty to a felony count of assaulting an officer. He was sentenced in January 2024 to 30 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution, $30,165 in restitution to a Metropolitan Police officer for medical expenses, and $49,764 in fines.
Mullins was actively involved with others pushing against barricades and officers to gain entry to the Capitol Building. At one point he leaned over a handrail and grabbed the leg of an officer who had been knocked to the ground, violently pulling on it for at least 20 seconds. The officer was eventually dragged down the Capitol steps and further assaulted by other rioters.
Prosecutors showed that Mullins then assaulted another officer who had been dragged down the Capitol steps. When the officer attempted to climb back up the steps to rejoin the other officers defending the Capitol Building, Mullins pushed the officer back down the steps and into the crowd of rioters.
As of Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Mullins was in custody at an Ashland prison and due to be released in January of 2026. By Wednesday, the records show he was released from custody Tuesday.
William Stover
Stover, also from Elizabethtown, pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder. He was sentenced last summer to six months in prison, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Court records show Stover physically pushed against police lines at the Capitol, hitting a police officer in the helmet and giving a police shield to another rioter who hit officers with it.
A cooperating witness traveling with Stover said he admitted fighting with the Proud Boys — a violent, far-right group — against police officers and he had "body slammed" one of the officers. The witness also said Stover told him the Proud Boys had been impressed and wanted him to join.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records on Tuesday showed Stover was still in custody at Kentucky prison and due to be released in June of 2025. However, by Wednesday morning they indicated he had been released Tuesday.
Damon Michael Beckley
Beckley, of Cub Run, was convicted by a federal jury of obstructing an official proceeding and civil disorder, both felonies. He was sentenced in February 2024 to 18 months in prison, 12 month supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Court records show Beckley was among the first group of rioters to breach the Capitol Building through the East Rotunda Doors. He reached the front of a mob facing off against a line of police guarding the House chamber, violently pushing through police to gain access to the vestibule outside the chamber door.
Still at the front of this mob, he observed rioters breaking the glass panels of the House chamber door and threatening members of Congress. He was interviewed soon after, saying “we’re not putting up with this tyrannical rule. If we gotta come back here and start a revolution and take all of these traitors out, which is what should be done, then we will.”
As of Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed Stover was due to be released in April of 2025, but was no longer in custody. By Wednesday morning, they indicated he had been released Tuesday.
Andrew Kyle Grigsby
Grigsby, of Louisville, was indicted Jan. 13 on five felony counts, including civil disorder, assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds using a dangerous weapon and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors said Grigsby approached a police line holding a black canister and sprayed a liquid, believed to be bear spray, at officers, forcing them to temporarily retreat. One of those officers described himself being “unable to breathe or see without unbearable, tortuous pain.”
A judge granted a motion Wednesday to dismiss all of the federal charges against Grigsby, but he is still incarcerated within Kentucky for the two child porn charges he pleaded guilty to last year.
Reporters Morgan Watkins and Jared Bennett with the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting contributed reporting for this story.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
This story has been updated with additional information.
