The American admitted that he went to Washington to support Trump because he was “obsessed” with him.
US Navy veteran Jason Riddle, convicted of participating in the January 2021 storming of the Capitol, has rejected a pardon offered by President Donald Trump, but he expressed hope that the current US president will also end up in prison one day.
He made this statement on air on ABC radio in New Hampshire, Law and Crime reports.
“I did a lot of damage being there [at the Capitol assault]. I hurt a lot of people, I said a lot of bad things,” Riddle said in an interview.
By accepting Trump's pardon, he said, he would be denying that reality.
Riddle, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation, said he sought help from Sen. Maggie Hassan's office to formalize his refusal of clemency.
“I was obviously obsessed with Trump. Psychologically, I was a hostage to something that was just draining me. It's a terrible thing that happened, and I deserve to go to jail, and so does Donald Trump. He deserves to go to jail for causing this. I think he might end up there one day,” he said.
In the interview, Riddle said he believed at the time that Trump had rightfully lost the 2020 election but wanted to attend the trip to Washington to support him. He said he had previously attended the incumbent president's rallies and noticed a sense of community among his supporters.
Jason Riddle is not the only one who refused the pardon that Donald Trump announced for those who stormed the Capitol immediately after returning to office on January 20 of this year.
Pamela Hemphill, 71, a convicted assault defendant, also rejected a presidential pardon, saying she felt like she was part of a “cult” that led her to believe Trump was the victim of election fraud in the 2020 election.
“Accepting a pardon would be an affront to the Capitol Police, to the rule of law and to our nation,” Hemphill told reporters.
Let us recall that the pardon announced by Donald Trump concerned about 1,500 people who participated in the storming of the Capitol.
