President Trump issues sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 rioters, including 20 from Colorado

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – Mere hours after taking the oath of office Monday, President Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of all 1,500-plus people charged in connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot – including over 20 Coloradoans.

Though the order doesn't list offenders by name, it grants a "full, complete and unconditional pardon" to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to the events at or near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That includes people convicted of seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers during the attack.

Included in the sweeping pardon are more than 20 individuals from Colorado, according to our Denver news partners. Here are a few individuals expected to be among them:

• Patrick Montgomery, a man from Douglas County who was sentenced in November 2024 for assaulting a law enforcement officer. Prosecutors say he tried to disarm the officer, kicking him in the chest in the process.
• Jeffery Sabol, a man from Jefferson County who was sentenced to more than five years in prison for charging officers and pulling one down into a mob of rioters. Sabol tried to flee to Switzerland after the riot before the FBI arrested him.
• Jacob Clark, a Trinidad man who was sentenced to time in prison in 2023 after assaulting an officer with a wooden plank and being captured in videos taken inside the Capitol.
• Klete Keller, the former Olympian known for wearing his Olympic jacket to the Capitol riot. He pleaded guilty to one count of felony obstruction of Congress back in 2023.
• Hunter Palm, who prosecutors say went into went into former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, shouting about killing her.
• Tyler Ethridge, a pastor from Colorado Springs. Court documents say he removed barricades from around the building and told fellow rioters to keep fighting as the mob beat law enforcement officers.
• Robert Geiswein, a Woodland Park resident who was caught on camera wearing tactical gear and armed with a bat, spraying officers with some kind of substance.

Not everyone who was pardoned was sentenced to time behind bars. While some have already been released, others were never given a prison sentence for their involvement in the insurrection.

The White House's announcement of the pardons and commutations reads, in part: "This proclamation 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."