Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will again ask the Iowa legislature to increase state penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers, she told reporters on December 12. But she did not condemn the idea of pardoning those who assaulted police during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bleeding Heartland asked Bird whether people who assaulted law enforcement or damaged federal government property on January 6 should be pardoned. She replied, “Well, that’s up to President Trump to decide once he’s in office.”
Would she support Trump if he issues those pardons? “As someone who has worked on pardons at the state level” with former Governor Terry Branstad, Bird said, “I think those decisions are best made on an individualized basis.”
Bird served as Branstad’s legal counsel from his return to the governor’s office in 2011 until early 2015. Elected attorney general in 2022, she was the highest-ranking state official to endorse Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign before the Iowa caucuses.
TRUMP PROMISES JANUARY 6 PARDONS ON “FIRST DAY”
The former president has repeatedly promised to pardon his supporters who were charged in connection with his attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.
Most recently, Eric Cortellessa reported for TIME Magazine on December 12,
One of the first official acts of his presidency, Trump tells TIME, will be to pardon most of the rioters accused or convicted of storming the Capitol to block the certification of Biden’s victory. “It’s going to start in the first hour,” he says. “Maybe the first nine minutes.”
In an interview broadcast on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on December 8, the president-elect told Kristen Welker he would “be acting very quickly. First day,” to help those prosecuted for their actions on January 6.
Trump said there may be “exceptions” for people who were “radical” or “crazy,” but he asserted that many people “have suffered, their lives have been destroyed” for doing very little on January 6. He also claimed people jailed over the attack on the Capitol have been “living in hell,” incarcerated in “a hellhole” that is “the most disgusting, filthy place.”
This video of the full “Meet the Press” interview is cued up to the relevant portion.
NBC News reported, “At least 1,572 defendants have been charged and more than 1,251 have been convicted or pleaded guilty in the attack. Of those, at least 645 defendants have been sentenced to incarceration ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal lockup.”
When Welker pointed out that 169 defendants had pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, Trump interrupted to say “because they had no choice.” Welker then noted that around 900 people have pleaded guilty to other crimes related to the January 6 events. Trump countered, “It’s a very tough system,” and falsely claimed the police were saying “Come on in, come on in” to the protesters.
The president-elect suggested the “very corrupt” and “very nasty system” coerced people into confessing to lesser crimes to avoid longer prison sentences.
According to the Des Moines Register, nine Iowans have been charged with crimes related to the January 6 events. Some have already completed their sentences for offenses such as disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building. At least three received years-long prison sentences: Doug Jensen, who confronted law enforcement as he helped lead rioters through the Capitol; Salvador Sandoval, convicted of assaulting several police officers; and Kyle Young, whom the sentencing judge described as “a one-man wrecking ball” after he pleaded guilty to assaulting D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone.
“WE WANT TO PROTECT LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM BEING ASSAULTED”
Attorney General Bird spoke to reporters following a December 12 news conference, which she called to highlight her plans to push for a state constitutional amendment. The amendment would allow children who are crime victims or witnesses to testify remotely during criminal trials. It is designed to address a June 2024 Iowa Supreme Court ruling, State v. Derek Michael White, in which four justices held that “the Iowa Constitution does not permit one-way mirrors or other procedures that prevent witnesses from seeing the accused.”
Asked whether she planned to ask lawmakers to make other changes to criminal statutes, Bird said she would introduce legislation to increase penalties for “assaulting law enforcement and other protected occupations,” such as people who work in jails or prisons, or firefighters. “No one should be assaulted as part of their job, and we need to keep our law enforcement safe,” she added.
The Iowa Attorney General’s office introduced a similar bill in early 2024. House File 2302 would have reclassified such crimes to bring up the penalty by one notch. Assaults currently defined as serious misdemeanors would become aggravated misdemeanors. Those now considered aggravated misdemeanors would become class D felonies. An offense now defined as a class D felony (assault with intent to cause a serious injury to someone in a protected profession) would become a class C felony. The Iowa House approved that bill by 96 votes to 1, but Senate leaders did not bring the legislation to the floor before the legislature adjourned in April.
It’s not clear why the Senate did not vote on the enhanced criminal penalties. Bird told reporters, “We have broad support, and we’re hoping to get that to the governor’s desk this year. We want to protect law enforcement from being assaulted.”
In response to a follow-up question (“Did lawmakers tell you what the hangup was?”), Bird said only, “There was broad support, and we’re going to work to get it across the finish line.”