Ryan Nichols thought his troubles were over when Donald Trump wiped his slate clean on the first day of his second presidency. Instead, the 35-year-old Texas man now faces a new criminal charge just months after his unconditional pardon for attacking police with pepper spray during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Nichols allegedly brandished a handgun during an argument in a church parking lot in Harleton, Texas on May 10. According to the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, he confronted another man who tried to walk away with his family, then raised his shirt to display the weapon and gripped it with his hand. The alleged victim told deputies he feared for his life.
Authorities arrested Nichols on a count of deadly conduct. He also faced separate harassment warrants. He posted an $8,000 bond and was released two days later.
The incident marks another chapter in a troubling pattern. At least five people freed by Trump for their roles in the Capitol attack have now been accused of committing crimes afterward, according to tracking by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a non-profit watchdog group.
Nichols pleaded guilty in November 2023 to his Capitol offense. During the riot, he sprayed officers with pepper spray and recorded himself making violent threats. "It's going to be violent and if you are asking, 'Is Ryan Nichols going to bring violence? Yes, Ryan Nichols is going to bring violence,'" he said in the video. A federal judge sentenced him to five years and three months in prison before Trump freed him in January 2025.
The timing of Nichols' new arrest sits awkwardly alongside his brief political ambitions. In April, he announced plans to run for Congress. That campaign ended quickly. "My heart is in the right place," Nichols said when withdrawing. "But I do not have the ability to properly lead this country."
Other pardoned Capitol participants have landed in legal trouble since Trump's amnesty. Christopher Moynihan pleaded guilty in February in New York to harassment for making threats against House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. He received three years of probation. Zachary Alam, meanwhile, was sentenced to seven years in prison on May 7 after a jury found him guilty of burglary in Virginia.
A database of more than 30 pardoned Capitol rioters shows that Trump's broad clemency granted freedom to people with criminal histories extending far beyond January 6. The list reveals the scope of the president's decision to wipe clean convictions for roughly 1,500 insurrectionists on his first day back in office.
Author James Rodriguez: "A pardon is supposed to be redemptive, not a reset button for someone's next arrest."
Comments