Tony Thompson, Ken Runde, and Kevin W. Techau jointly wrote this column. Thompson served as Black Hawk County sheriff and is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Iowa Army National Guard.
Runde served as Dubuque County sheriff and U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa. He is a Marine Corps veteran.
Techau served as Iowa’s Commissioner of Public Safety and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Iowa Air National Guard.
Attorney General Brenna Bird recently traveled with the Quad City Back the Blue Flight to Washington, D.C., where participants visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Bird rightly noted that law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for us every day and deserve our gratitude. U.S. Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), Ashley Hinson (IA-02), and Zach Nunn (IA-03) have also declared their unwavering devotion to law enforcement, citing “Back the Blue” as a core pillar of their public service and campaign platforms.
We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. Consider the case of Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, whose name is inscribed on that very National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
Officer Sicknick defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. During the attack, Julian Khater sprayed Sicknick and another officer with a chemical irritant. Sicknick collapsed later that evening and died the following day after suffering two strokes. The United States Capitol Police recognizes Sicknick as having died in the line of duty from his service during the attack on January 6, 2021.
Khater pleaded guilty to assaulting Sicknick and another officer with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to 80 months in federal prison. Yet, President Donald Trump pardoned him alongside dozens of others convicted of violently assaulting police officers at the Capitol.
This raises a fair, unavoidable question for Attorney General Bird, Representatives Hinson, Nunn, and Miller-Meeks, and every public official who claims to “Back the Blue”: How can you state your devotion to law enforcement while remaining silent about the pardons of the men convicted of assaulting the officers who protected our Capitol?
For years, “Back the Blue” has been a rallying cry for politicians seeking to demonstrate their law-and-order credentials. But true support cannot depend upon who committed the assault or whose political interests are implicated. Having devoted decades of our lives to law enforcement, public safety, military service, and the administration of justice, we know what real support requires. It demands consistent principles concerning violence against officers, the criminal justice system, and the exercise of government power. Those principles matter most when standing by them is politically inconvenient.
President Trump’s clemency orders erased federal criminal consequences for people whose violent attacks on police had been established through guilty pleas or jury verdicts. Consider what was erased:
* Officer Michael Fanone was dragged into a mob, put in a chokehold, restrained, and shocked in the neck with an electroshock weapon. His attackers—Albuquerque Head, Kyle Young, Daniel Rodriguez, and Thomas Sibick—were all convicted. All four were pardoned.
* Officer Daniel Hodges was trapped and pinned against a metal doorway with a riot shield while his gas mask was ripped away and he was struck with a police baton. His attackers, Patrick McCaughey III and Steven Cappuccio, were convicted, sentenced, and pardoned.
* Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, was assaulted by men using riot shields and stolen police batons. Tristan Stevens, Matthew Krol, and Kyle Fitzsimons were convicted or pleaded guilty. Each was pardoned.
These are not partisan allegations. Evidence was presented, guilt was admitted or proven, and judges imposed sentences. Now, there is even discussion of compensating these same defendants through a proposed “1776 Fund.” This presents a second urgent question for Iowa’s Congressional delegation: Should people who beat officers with stolen police equipment be rewarded with public funds? Pardoning those who assaulted officers was difficult enough to reconcile with backing the blue; paying them would deepen the contradiction.
We are not asking our federal and state candidates to relitigate every aspect of January 6. We are asking them to break their silence and answer a direct question: Do you support or oppose pardoning and compensating people convicted of violently assaulting police officers—and why?
If the answer is yes, explain that position plainly to the officers who were injured. If the answer is no, say so publicly. Silence does not answer the question. No candidate should place “Back the Blue” on campaign literature while actively avoiding the reality of what happened to the officers protecting our public servants.
If assaulting a police officer is an outrage on a street in Iowa, it was an outrage at the U.S. Capitol. The badge is the same. The law is the same. “Back the Blue” must mean supporting officers when it is politically inconvenient—not merely invoking their sacrifice when it is politically useful. It is time for Attorney General Bird, Representatives Hinson, Nunn, and Miller-Meeks to show the consistency and courage that the badge deserves.
Top photo is by Lev Radin, available via Shutterstock.