To the editor:
As I finished reading the Daily Item’s editorial (Trump frees the Jan. 6 criminals: (Pardoning the Capitol rioters is bad for democracy, Jan. 23) that originally ran in the New York Daily News, it continues the narrative that everything the Democrats call a threat to democracy is indeed a threat to democracy. However, when you go back and remember the last few years, you see the weaponizing of the DOJ and the FBI against President Trump and his allies. Wasn’t this a threat to democracy too?
Democrats and their legacy media allies have been pushing the insurrection narrative continuously but when all was said and done, not one person was ever arrested, charged, or convicted of the crime of insurrection. Technically, under the law, the Jan. 6 rioters were not insurrectionists, There could have been many bad actors there but they weren’t out to overthrow the government. By the way, just asking, How many rioters happened to get arrested, charged, or convicted during the “Summer of Peace” in 2020?
I praise President Trump for his mass pardoning of folks who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with some of the wrong people. Some of those who protested outside the US Capitol building committed acts of violence but many more didn’t. Most of those found guilty of acts of violence have indeed already served their incarcerations. They have paid the price for their actions from four years ago. It is time to move forward and I think we have President Trump getting re-elected by a large margin which says move forward and don’t keep litigating the past.
By the way, once former President Biden gave preemptive pardons to most of his family members on the way out the door, how can anyone call pardoning J-6ers a threat to democracy? At least Trump pardoned those convicted and already jailed. Biden seemingly pardoned his family to avoid possible future convictions and jail. It seems clear which president abused his pardoning power. It is clear who endangered democracy.
It is time for America to move forward together. Our nightmare of lawfare has come to its bitter end.
Sal Giarratani
East Boston
