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.”
Durbin again asked Pemberton for his “reaction” to the pardons, but the union chairman pivoted to focus on general officer assaults.
“My reaction is that it’s more frustrating to have suspects who assault police officers who are arrested by cops and have that case no-papered by a U.S. attorney’s office than it is to have people who are convicted of crimes and spend years in jail and later be pardoned,” he said.
Durbin asked him to clarify his remarks.
“What I’m saying, Senator, is more than 1,500 officers have been assaulted by people since that day, and nothing has happened to those suspects,” Pemberton said.
Durbin asked if Pemberton was equally outraged by assaults on his officers, regardless of where and when they took place.
“I don’t think anybody should ever be assaulting officers, and if they do, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Pemberton said.
When Durbin asked Pemberton whether he believed the Jan. 6 rioters’ should have received the pardons, he answered that it appeared as though there was no focus on officers assaulted on days beside Jan. 6, 2021.
“My frustration, Senator, is that no one seems to care about police officers who were assaulted after that day or before that day. It seems like people only care about police officers who were assaulted on that day in the calendar,” Pemberton said. “Police officers are assaulted all the time. And no one seems to care about it. And that’s our frustration.”
“Well, I’m certainly not in that category, and I don’t think most people are. But let me tell you something else. I spent a better part of my life in this building and the U.S. Capitol building, and I think you feel as I do,” Durbin responded. “It is a cathedral to democracy and should be respected. And the people that broke down the windows, came in, and beat up on your police officers are despicable.”
Durbin has also used past hearings to focus on Jan. 6.
For instance, during a March Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on censorship, Durbin launched into a three-minute tirade about riot.
Moreover, Pemberton asserted on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum” in August that officers were instructed to misreport crimes.
“Inevitably you will have a captain or a commander or sometimes a lieutenant show up on the scene and advise them to take a report for a lesser offense,” Pemberton said. “One of the things that we see them do often is sometimes there will be a shooting or a stabbing and if the victim is uncooperative with the police which is not uncommon in some areas of the city, they will be directed to take an injured person to the hospital report which is not even a crime at all but an incident report, sometimes you will have a robbery reported as a theft and other times you will have burglaries reported as unlawful entry or thefts.”
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