At least ten Iowans are among some 1,500 people President Donald Trump pardoned on his first day back in the White House. The sweeping proclamation affects everyone convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Most of them will receive a “full, complete and unconditional pardon.” Fourteen named individuals, who were leaders of the extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, will have their sentences commuted to time served.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump characterized those charged with January 6 offenses as “hostages,” a term he periodically used on the campaign trail last year.

Ten Iowans have been charged in connection with the January 6 events, William Morris and Brian Smith reported for the Des Moines Register earlier this month. Two have been serving years-long prison terms but will soon be released, in accordance with Trump’s pardons:

• Salvador Sandoval received an 88-month sentence in August 2023 after being convicted at trial of six offenses, including assaulting police officers inside the Capitol.
• Kyle Young received an 86-month sentence in September 2022 after pleading guilty “to a single charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer.” Young was among the rioters who assaulted D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone.

One other Iowan will avoid a possible conviction and prison sentence, thanks to the new president’s action. Federal prosecutors charged Earl Jordan in October 2024 with “assaulting or impeding officers, civil disorder, entering restricted grounds and disorderly conduct,” according to the Des Moines Register. He was awaiting trial, but Trump’s proclamation directed the U.S. attorney general to dismiss with prejudice “all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

Seven other Iowans affected by Trump’s pardons either did not serve time in prison or have completed their sentences. Some were sentenced to probation, in which case their probation will end early. This Des Moines Register story has more details on all of the following defendants:

• Doug Jensen, among the most recognizable January 6 defendants because of the QAnon shirt he was wearing when storming the Capitol, was convicted at trial and sentenced in 2022 to “Five years in prison, 36 months of supervised release and $2,000 restitution to the U.S. Capitol architect.” However, the Des Moines Register reported that Jensen “was transferred to a halfway home in Kansas City” in January 2024, and was not in federal custody as of October 2024.
• Jason Curl pleaded guilty “to disorderly conduct and parading or demonstrating in the Capitol,” and received a sentence of 24 months probation in June 2024.
• Chad Heathcote pleaded guilty in 2022 to the same charge, and was sentenced to fifteen days in jail and three years of probation.
• Daryl Johnson pleaded guilty in 2022 and was sentenced to 30 days in prison for felony civil disorder.
• Leo Kelly was convicted at trial of seven offenses in May 2023, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. But he was released early last summer and was later resentenced to time served (a little less than a year).
• Deborah Sandoval, the mother of Salvador Sandoval, pleaded guilty in 2022 to entering a restricted building and was sentenced to five months.
• Kenneth Rader pleaded guilty in 2022 to parading or picketing in the Capitol, and received a sentence of 90 days in jail and 36 months of probation.

Although Trump’s pardons will not expunge the convictions of any January 6 defendants, it will allow them to regain citizenship rights, such as the right to buy and possess firearms.

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Appendix: Full text of proclamation President Donald Trump signed on January 20:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.

Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I do hereby:

(a)  commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025: 

•    Stewart Rhodes

•    Kelly Meggs

•    Kenneth Harrelson

•    Thomas Caldwell

•    Jessica Watkins

•    Roberto Minuta

•    Edward Vallejo

•    David Moerschel

•    Joseph Hackett

•    Ethan Nordean

•    Joseph Biggs

•    Zachary Rehl

•    Dominic Pezzola

•    Jeremy Bertino

(b)  grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021;

The Attorney General shall administer and effectuate the immediate issuance of certificates of pardon to all individuals described in section (b) above, and shall ensure that all individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, who are currently held in prison are released immediately.  The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

I further direct the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.  The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

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Top image came from footage the House Committee on January 6 released in June 2022.