New Hampshire man declines Trump’s pardon

A New Hampshire man has declined Donald Trump’s pardon for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in the U.S. Capitol. 

Jason D. Riddle, 36, of Keene, stole and drank a bottle of wine from inside a lawmaker’s office in the Capitol. He took a book on Senate procedure, which he later sold for $40, according to officials.

In November 2021, he pleaded guilty to theft of government property and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. He was fined nearly $800 and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, according to The Boston Globe.

Now, he’s turning down the pardon for those actions. 

He said taking the pardon would be tantamount to asserting what happened on Jan. 6 was acceptable, according to the Globe.

Riddle said he’s still a recovering alcoholic. A server at a Concord, New Hampshire restaurant, Riddle said he did “stupid things” on Jan. 6 and “got involved with the wrong people.” 

Riddle voted for Kamala Harris last November, according to reports. 

“Those people are now running the government, that’s fine,” Riddle told the paper. “Doesn’t make it right.” 

Riddle’s public defender, Eric Wolpin, said in court papers that Riddle was married with no history of violence. He was primarily politically involved with a “small, local, rural group of gay New Hampshire Republicans” who had never been violent before, according to the Globe. 

“Beneath the bravado, charisma, and loudmouth is a man with a good heart,” Riddle’s husband, Bobby Schoen, wrote in a letter to the sentencing judge. “While this has been hard on him and us (hate mail, being accused of being a terrorist, and being given up on by friends and family alike) Jason has stayed strong and has grown to be a better person.”

In his March 2022 sentencing referendum, prosecutors wrote that Riddle sought to “capitalize on his crimes by claiming that it would help him get elected to Congress.” He was not elected. 

Prosecutors said Riddle “photographed the destruction in and around the Capitol and treated the chaos and disorder around him as an entertaining spectacle, even posing for selfie-style photographs in the middle of the riot.” 

Prosecutors said Riddle’s veteran status makes his conduct on Jan. 6 more concerning. 

“He was honorably discharged from active-duty service in 2008,” prosecutors wrote. “In September 2009, Riddle was administratively separated due to certain physical or mental conditions. He also served with the Army Reserves until 2016.”

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