Politics

Scores from the Tampa Bay area convicted in the Jan. 6 riot are pardoned

WUSF | By Steve Newborn

Published January 22, 2025 at 5:01 AM EST

People gathered with Trump flags outside the U.S. Capitol — The scene during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

More than 40 people convicted on the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were from West Central Florida.

One of the first things Donald Trump did after he was inaugurated Monday was commute or pardon the people who were convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. At least 42 of them are from the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas.

Florida was well represented in those pardons.

More than 140 Floridians were on the list - including Enrique Tarrio of Miami, the former head of the Proud Boys. He had gotten the longest sentence from the insurrection - 22 years in prison.

There were two local people who had their sentences commuted. One, Kelly Meggs of Dunellon, led the Florida chapter of Oath Keepers. He had been sentenced to 12 years in prison. The other is Joseph Hackett of Sarasota, another member of the Oath Keepers. He had been sentenced to 42 months.

They both will get out of jail, but will retain the convictions on their police records.

The others got official pardons, which means their convictions will be completely erased from their history.

One of the most prominent of those is Adam Johnson of Parrish. He shot to fame after being photographed carrying the lectern of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi through the Capitol rotunda.