A small contingent of Republicans in Congress on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s pardons of more than 1,500 people charged for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including rioters who violently attacked police.
“I just can’t agree,” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, told reporters on Capitol Hill early Tuesday, adding that he would propose new legislation to tighten penalties for violent actions against law enforcement officers.
“I’m about to file two bills that will increase the penalties, up to and including the death penalty, for the murder of a police officer and increasing the penalties and creating federal crimes for assaulting a police officer,” Mr. Tillis told a crowd of reporters gathered outside his office.
Members of Congress ran in fear of their lives from the Capitol four years ago as it was besieged by a pro-Trump mob, and many Republicans made strong statements in the immediate aftermath of the attack that violent rioters must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But on Tuesday, few spoke up to object to Mr. Trump’s pardons, and many Republican lawmakers said it was time to move on.
“We’re looking at the future, not the past,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said, calling the pardons “the president’s decision.”
But a few found fault with his decision. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said those who committed acts of violence on Jan. 6, 2021, should not be excused.
“While I believe some Americans were caught up in the crowd on Jan. 6 and may well deserve the clemency President Trump has given, there is a great difference between violent crimes and nonviolent crimes,” Ms. Collins said. “I do not support pardons given to people who engaged in violence on Jan. 6, including assaulting police officers, or breaking windows to get into the Capitol, for example.”
Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, conceded that the issue was fraught, particularly for lawmakers who were at the Capitol when the assault unfolded.
“I was there,” he told reporters. “ I saw it. It was more than a rowdy tour group. It certainly wasn’t what a lot of people made it out to be.”
But he argued that Mr. Trump’s pardons were a chance to put the entire episode to rest.
“It’s not great,” Mr. Cramer said. “But also for the greater good, he did it to move forward and I’m ready to move forward.”
Immediately following the riot on the Capitol, Mr. Cramer spoke in blunt terms about how he would have handled the situation if he were a law enforcement officer that day.
“If I was in charge of security at the U.S. Capitol and some guy came in busting through the window, I would have put a bullet in his head,” Mr. Cramer said in an interview at the time.
Last week before being sworn in as vice president, JD Vance was clear during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that violent rioters should not be pardoned.
“If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” Mr. Vance said at the time.
His words seemingly cleared the way for former colleagues to take a similar approach.
A few days after that interview, Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, told a crowd during a live interview with the news outlet Politico that she shared the same view, saying: “I agree with JD.”
And even after Mr. Trump’s announcement on Monday, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, pointed back to Mr. Vance’s comments. “Well, I think I agree with the vice president,” he said in an interview with the website Semafor on Tuesday. “No one should excuse violence. And particularly violence against police officers.”
Carl Hulse and Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.
