Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton offered no comment Tuesday on President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon nearly all Jan. 6 rioters, including those charged with assaulting police.
None of the three elected Republican officials and outspoken Trump allies responded to an inquiry the Current emailed Monday night about whether they support Trump’s move. The silence comes after all three have repeatedly invoked calls for law and order and played up their unwavering support for law-enforcement personnel.
In 2021, Abbott signed into law a string of GOP-backed bills that punish cities for cutting police budgets and also target protesters with harsh penalties if they interfere with law-enforcement personnel. The measures were passed in reaction to marches seeking greater police accountability after the murder of George Floyd.
“Texas is a law and order state,” Abbott declared in an October Facebook post trumpeting his appearance at a Texas Crime Stoppers conference in Waco.
Patrick has also made support for law enforcement part of his political brand, issuing a 2015 statement urging people to end “negative attitude toward our law enforcement officers” and urging them to call police “sir” and “ma’am” at all times.
“I challenge all Texans to think about how underappreciated our officers must feel, how dangerous their jobs are, how they leave their families everyday not knowing if they are coming home and more importantly, if there is anything you can do to help make their job a little easier,” he said.
Meanwhile, Paxton signed a 2020 letter with other Republican attorneys general blasting Democrat-controlled cities for rethinking their police budgets amid nationwide protests calling for law-enforcement reform. Leaders who agree to rein in police power would let “chaos and disorder reign supreme,” the letter warned.
“The vast majority of law enforcement officers are underpaid and overworked public servants who adhere to the notion that ‘with great power comes great responsibility,'” reads the letter Paxton signed. “Defunding the police will not protect one single American, but will undoubtedly lead to reduced community safety.” Abbott attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday, and Paxton spoke at the Jan. 6 rally at which Trump urged supporters to march on the Capitol as Congress was certifying his defeat by Joe Biden. “[If] you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump told rally attendees.
The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol injured at least 140 law-enforcement officers, likely more, according to the U.S. Justice Department. More than 284 defendants were subsequently charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, according to the feds. Nearly 100 of that total were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury.
Trump’s pardoning of violent insurrectionists who attacked law-enforcement officers drew swift condemnation from former District of Columbia police officer Michael Fanone, who was attacked in the Jan. 6 riot. He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he feels betrayed by Trump and those who support him.
“I think that Republican Party owns a monopoly on hypocrisy when it comes to supporting or their supposed support of law enforcement,” Fanone said, “because, tonight, the leader of the Republican Party pardoned hundreds of violent cop assaulters.”
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This article appears in Jan 8-21, 2025.