Jan. 6 Capitol rioter from New Hampshire asks to formally refuse presidential pardon
By Arielle Mitropoulos
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KEENE, New Hampshire (WMUR) — One of the 1,500 people who marched to the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 says he does not want President Donald Trump’s pardon, and is looking to formally refuse it.
“I caused a lot of hurt by being down there. I hurt a lot of people along the way, I said a lot of nasty things,” said Jason Riddle, who is a Navy veteran, told News 9 in an exclusive interview. “I have to acknowledge that reality, and part of that is not taking any sort of pardon or pass or anything from Trump that denies that reality, because once you do that, I’m right back where I started.”
At the time, investigators said that Riddle was drinking a bottle of wine and had stolen a book on Senate procedure. He eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.
After initially telling News 9 in January, following the announcement of the pardons, that he would not accept it, Riddle said on Monday that he has asked the office of Sen. Maggie Hassan to assist him in the formal process of having it refused.
After the pardons were issued, Riddle said he emailed the Pardon Office, asking for it to be refused. However, now, he said, they realized they needed the assistance of the Congressional Delegation.
“Today, they officially reached out to the Pardon Office and asked for them to put the official letter,” Riddle said.
Hassan’s office confirmed to News 9 that their team has reached out to the Pardon Office on Riddle’s behalf.
At the time, Riddle said that he believed that Trump had lost the 2020 election fairly, but wanted to be part of the experience of going to Washington, D.C., to support him. He said he used to frequently attend the president’s rallies and had found a community among his supporters.
“I clearly was obsessed with Trump. I was mentally being held hostage to something that was just sucking me dry,” Riddle said.
Riddle, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in prison and three years of probation, said that he believes he deserved to spend time behind bars. He is now sober and added that his life has changed fundamentally, and this decision to refuse the pardon is about holding himself and others accountable.
“This was a horrible thing that happened, and I deserve to go to prison, and so does Donald Trump. He still deserves to go to prison for having caused that. I think maybe one day he will,” Riddle said.
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