'It's A Damn Shame': GOP Senator Blasts Trump's Mass Pardon Of Jan. 6 Rioters

In a speech on the fifth anniversary of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thom Tillis declared: "We have to speak truth to power."

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s blanket pardons to hundreds of rioters charged in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Tillis underscored his opposition to the president pardoning those who injured law enforcement officers and “destroyed” the Capitol building during the insurrection.

“If you had that happen to your office or your business, would you think, ‘Well, they were just a little hot-headed, let them go and not prosecute them?’ Or would you hold them accountable for threatening the citadel of democracy?” he asked.

Tillis claimed that many of those who entered the Capitol “didn’t understand what was happening,” while those who led the charge into the building and harmed officers “should go to prison for as long as the law allows.”

“It’s a damn shame they’re out because nearly three dozen of them have actually been arrested for another crime since they were pardoned,” Tillis said.