January 6 rioters from Mississippi part of massive pardon by Trump. See who got released

Thanks to an executive action of President Donald J. Trump, at least four Mississippians who were convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have been released and pardoned.

The Clarion Ledger was able to identify four Mississippi residents who were released from U.S. Bureau of Prison custody on Jan. 20, according to bureau records.

On his first day in office, Trump pardoned and commuted the sentence of about 1,500 people who were convicted for their roles in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“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,” Trump wrote in the pardon order.

The four Mississippians identified in the report were all convicted of either assaulting a police officer or committing violent acts on the U.S. capitol grounds. As of late last year, several others were also still being prosecuted. If they are convicted, the pardon would likely go into effect.

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State Sen. Kathy Chism, R-New Albany, cheered the decision by Trump.

“I fully support your decision to make this pardon,” Chism said in a Facebook post. “God bless you, the prisoners and America! At last God has given us a second chance through you President Trump and for that I am grateful.”

The Mississippi Republican Party did not specifically post about the pardon on social media, but it did applaud all of Trump’s executive actions on day one and two in office, which included the pardon.

“Day one was exactly what the American people wanted,” the state GOP posted to the social platform X on Jan. 21, retweeting a White House post.

Mississippi GOP Chairman Mike Hurst in September told the Clarion Ledger the state party had no affiliation with Jan. 6 rioters, and it did not support them in any way.

“I view this as a former federal prosecutor, and if the federal courthouse in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, has court security officers, U.S. Marshals and magnometers to prevent people from coming in, and people break through those, they should be prosecuted,” Hurst said of Jan. 6 rioters. “It’s even more important if people do that at our United States Capitol building.”

Hurst did not respond to a request for comment on this story by press time.

On Jan. 6, 2021, hundreds of right-wing participants of a rally held by Trump stormed and occupied the U.S. Capitol building to try and stop the certification of the election. Five people died during and after the riot, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

Who got out of prison?

As of last year, those four Mississippians were in prison for their roles in the riot, but as of Jan. 21, Lori Cyree, a charity organizer of My Brother’s Keeper Oxford, a group assisting Jan. 6 rioters, was posting photos of some of the freed men back home in Mississippi on Facebook.

Cyree did not respond to several requests for comment for this story.

James McGrew, a former U.S. Marine from Biloxi, was serving a six-year sentence that began in 2022, and he was supposed to pay $7,000 in fines.

He was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer, civil disorders, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, an act of physical violence in the U.S. Capitol grounds or buildings, parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.

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Thomas Smith of Greenwood got out of serving a nine-year sentence that began in 2023, with an additional three years of supervised release also being taken away.

Smith was convicted of assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding, two counts of civil disorder, two counts of assaulting, impeding or resisting officers, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct in the U.S. Capitol grounds or buildings and an act of physical violence in the U.S. Capitol grounds or buildings.

Thomas Webster, who was formerly a member of the New York City Police Department, before moving his family to Mississippi and planning to follow, was released from a 10-year sentence that began in 2022, and he got out of three years of supervised release and a $2,060 restitution payment.

Webster was convicted of forcibly assaulting an officer, obstructing or impeding an officer in the performance of official duties, entering a restricted building, disorderly or disruptive conduct.

Craig Bingert of Yazoo City was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2023 for assaulting a police officer.

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U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a press release on Jan. 20 had strong words for Trump about his decision to pardon those connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

“With these pardons and grants of clemency, President Trump has started his second term just like he finished his first: with lawless contempt for our justice system and our democracy,” Thompson said. “Many of these criminals were convicted of violent crimes against law enforcement. All have been found guilty or pleaded guilty of crimes against the United States — and all tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power on January 6 in servitude to Donald Trump and the Big Lie. To be clear, none were solely protesting or expressing their First Amendment rights.  None are victims and none are hostages.”

Thompson chaired the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: January 6 rioters from Mississippi freed by Trump: See who got pardons

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