Trump pardons Jan. 6 defendant who remained in prison on separate firearms charge

President Trump granted a second pardon to a Jan. 6 defendant who remained jailed on separate gun offenses, leading to his release Friday.

Dan Wilson was one of Mr. Trump’s supporters who broke into the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Justice Department said in a 2024 press release that Wilson was a militia member who entered the building wearing a gas mask.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to hinder or injure a federal agent in May 2024 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

He was pardoned for this charge in January 2025 when Mr. Trump obtained pardon for approximately 1,500 defendants on January 6.

Despite the pardon, Wilson remained incarcerated. Authorities searched his home in June 2022 as part of their investigation into his presence at the Capitol.

They recovered “numerous firearms and ammunition,” said the Justice Department, whose possession was prohibited due to previous felony convictions.

Wilson pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one charge of possession of an unregistered firearm, and was scheduled to remain in prison until 2028.

A White House official told CBS News that Mr. Trump was pardoning Wilson because the search of the home that led to the discovery of the guns was part of the investigation into the January 6 charges against Wilson.

Wilson’s pardon, reviewed by CBS News, was dated Friday. He was released from prison Friday evening, his lawyer George Pallas told The Associated Press.

“For too long, my client has been held as a political prisoner by a government that criminalizes dissent,” Pallas said in a statement to CBS News. “President Trump’s pardon corrects this wrong and sends a clear message that peaceful Americans will not be persecuted for their beliefs. Mr. Wilson is innocent, he has always been innocent, and this pardon proves it.”

A sprawling legal battle

Wilson’s case became part of a legal debate on whether Mr. Trump’s pardon for crimes related to January 6 applied to other offenses uncovered in investigations related to those charges. Mr. Trump has downplayed the events of the attack and refers to those who are imprisoned connection with him as “hostages”.

Wilson planned to participate in the riot at the Capitol for weeks, according to the Justice Department’s 2024 press release, and sometimes discussed bringing guns. He finally arrived without a weapon.

Throughout the day, he provided information through messaging channels about where people needed help entering the Capitol, the Justice Department said. He also spoke with other members of far-right groups, including the Oath Keepers.

The Justice Department initially argued that Trump’s pardons did not extend to gun charges against Wilson, but later changed its position, saying it had received “further clarity on the intent of the presidential pardon.”

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrichwho oversaw Wilson’s case and was appointed by Mr. Trump during his first term, criticized the decision and called efforts to extend the pardon to cover violations uncovered during investigations extraordinary, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Trump also pardoned Suzanne Kaye, a Florida woman sentenced to 18 months in prison for threatening to shoot FBI agents. Kaye was questioned by FBI agents after she said online that she was at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. according to CBS Miami. When contacted by agents, Kaye denied having been there, but still agreed to speak with them, CBS Miami reported.

In her video, posted to multiple platforms after that conversation but before her interview, Kaye said she would not speak to the FBI without an attorney and that she would have “my second amendment right to shoot you in the ass if you come here,” according to CBIS Miami. A White House official described Kaye’s comments as “expressing his displeasure with the FBI using dry language,” and said it was “clearly a case of prosecuting political speech that disfavors the First Amendment and excessive punishment.”