Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Already Rearrested on Gun Charges

A man accused of assaulting law enforcement officers and tossing an explosive device into a Capitol tunnel on Jan. 6 was rearrested just days after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump. 

In May 2023, Daniel Ball of Homosassa, Florida, was indicted on 12 counts related to his participation in the attack on the Capitol. Charges against him included assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon; using fire or an explosive to commit any felony; and knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon. 

Ball was accused of “throwing an explosive device that detonated upon at least 25 officers” into the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel, injuring law enforcement personnel. On Tuesday,  Ball’s case was dismissed following President Trump’s blanket pardon to over 1,500 defendants charged with offenses related to the attempted insurrection. Less than a day later, the Department of Justice rearrested Ball on a separate, pending charge related to the unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

Jan. 6 was nowhere near Ball’s first brush with law enforcement. Three previous felony convictions — including for domestic violence battery by strangulation, resisting law enforcement with violence, and battery against a law enforcement officer — are listed in the charging documents.

While Ball was nabbed on a pending charge unrelated to Jan. 6, the president’s widespread amnesty for Jan. 6 offenders let hundreds of individuals charged or convicted of violence during the attack off the hook. These include members of the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and individuals who mercilessly assaulted law enforcement agents defending the Capitol from the mob.

Trump dodged a question on Tuesday about pardoning rioters who assaulted officers. After agreeing that it’s never acceptable to assault a police officer, the president responded “we’ll take a look at everything” when asked about his pardon of someone who drove a stun gun into an officer’s neck. Axios reported the following morning that — according to a close adviser — Trump didn’t care much to scrutiny whom exactly he was pardoning. “Trump just said: ‘F–k it: Release ’em all,'” an adviser told the outlet. There had reportedly been trepidation within Trump’s inner circle over releasing violent offenders. Little more than a week before the inauguration, Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News: “If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”

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The indiscriminate nature of the pardons also blindsided some members of Congress, who struggled to openly endorse the release of individuals who’d stormed the Capitol with violence against themselves and their colleagues in mind. 

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters that it was simply not his job to second guess the president. “The president’s made his decision, and I don’t second guess those,” he said, according to The Hill. “It’s kind of my ethos, my worldview, we believe in redemption. We believe in second chances.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), meanwhile, wrote on X that Capitol Police “are the backbone of Congress — every day they protect and serve the halls of democracy. I strongly denounce the blanket pardons given to the violent offenders who assaulted these brave men and women in uniform.” 

In a joint statement the The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) — which endorsed Trump in this election — and the The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) wrote that they were “deeply discouraged by the recent pardons and commutations granted by both the Biden and Trump Administrations to individuals convicted of killing or assaulting law enforcement officers.” 

“Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety — they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law. Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families,” they wrote. 

Republicans have made “backing the blue” a staple in their public cultural posturing, but when it comes to the men and women in uniform who put their lives and safety on the line to protect lawmakers on Jan. 6, the GOP is more than willing to let the mob win.