DC Police Union’s Gregg Pemberton Expresses ‘Frustration’ As Dick Durbin Solely Focuses On J6 Officer Assaults

Washington, D.C., Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton expressed irritation during a Tuesday hearing as Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin focused exclusively on police officer assaults that occurred during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 granting “full, complete and unconditional pardons” to an estimated 1,500 Jan. 6, 2021, protesters. Durbin used his questioning time at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on blue city crime to press Pemberton about the pardons for rioters who assaulted officers, but the union chairman noted that police officers have continually faced assaults, not just on Jan. 6, 2021.

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“What was your reaction when President Donald Trump gave a full and unconditional pardon to 1,500 individuals who had been prosecuted for violence against police officers?” Durbin asked.

Durbin appeared to be referencing the total number of individuals pardoned rather than the amount who had specifically faced prosecutions for assaulting officers. There were about 1,000 assaults on cops, based on a review of bodycam videos, according to legal filings by the Justice Department, ABC News reported on Sept. 2

“Well, it’s frustrating to see that, but what I point to is since that day, since January 7, 2021, through today, we’ve had 1,537 officers injured where someone has assaulted a police officer, and 95% of those cases have been no-papered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Pemberton said. “So, yes, it’s frustrating to have officers who are assaulted, but the vast majority of those people that assaulted officers that day were arrested and charged, and many of them convicted.”