Several recently released Jan. 6 Capitol rioters have found themselves back in police custody or on the run for serious felony offenses, while one subject was fatally shot by an Indiana sheriff’s deputy within days of being pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Matthew W. Huttle, a 42-year-old resident of Hobart, Indiana, was fatally shot Sunday after allegedly resisting arrest during a traffic stop, according to reports. He had been released from federal prison last July after serving six months for his role in the Capitol uprising and could have still been under the terms of his yearlong probation. His clemency from Trump lasted less than a week before he was killed.
Meanwhile, in Florida, 39-year-old Daniel Charles Ball, who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and broke a window shutter before throwing a device at Capitol Police that exploded below the Lower West Terrace, was arrested on federal gun charges just two days after Trump pardoned the rioters moments after taking the oath of office for his second term.
Just days before, Ball was being held in a Washington, D.C., federal jail after being indicted on multiple felonies for assaulting police officers and detonating an explosive device during the 2021 Capitol riot.
The gun charges against Ball stemmed from a search warrant related to the Jan. 6 case, during which federal authorities discovered firearms and ammunition in his possession, according to his attorney, Amy Collins, in a statement to The Washington Post. In an August 2024 indictment, prosecutors argued that Ball is prohibited from possessing weapons due to prior convictions not connected to the Capitol attack.
Elsewhere, 36-year-old Andrew Taake, who had been serving a six-year sentence plus an additional three years of supervised release for assaulting a police officer with a metal whip and bear spray during the Capitol riot, was being sought by Texas police for allegedly soliciting a minor in Harris County nearly a decade ago, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Previously, when Taake unlawfully entered the Capitol in 2021, he was out on $20,000 bond for a third-degree felony charge in Harris County in connection with the alleged solicitation of a minor over the Internet, which stemmed from an incident in 2016. Shortly after the riot, Taake was apprehended after he boasted about his involvement to a woman he had met on the dating app Bumble.
Court records indicate that his bond had been revoked prior to Trump issuing the pardons. However, the Harris County District Attorney’s office demanded he remain in custody due to an outstanding warrant, as confirmed by Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare in a statement to the Daily Beast.
“Although a clerk faxed a copy of that warrant on January 15, Taake was released five days later, in accordance with President Trump’s Pardon order,” Teare’s office said in a statement. “We are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for [the] 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.”
The three criminal cases stood out among the 1,500 so-called “hostages” pardoned by Trump on his first day in office, along with 14 others whose sentences he commuted, effectively halting hundreds of ongoing prosecutions tied to the Capitol attack.
At a press conference, Trump brushed off criticism regarding his decision to grant a blanket pardon to all January 6 offenders, despite previously stating he would only pardon those involved in non-violent actions.
“These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously,” Trump said Tuesday after issuing the pardons on his first day back in office. “It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”
Trump ignored concerns about fueling extremism among white nationalists, despite repeated warnings from former FBI director Christopher Wray, who resigned at the end of President Joe Biden’s term to avoid being fired by Trump.
Trump’s pardons fulfilled a key campaign promise. During the election, he had referred to the Jan. 6 defendants as “patriots” and “hostages” unfairly persecuted by the Justice Department. However, his broad act of clemency has sparked fierce backlash, even from Republicans.
The Jan. 6 attack followed Joe Biden’s legitimate victory in the November 2020 election, but Trump falsely claimed the process was rigged, igniting his most ardent supporters who stormed Congress, aiming to overturn the election results by halting Biden’s certification and pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes for the Democratic winner.
Those who overran the Capitol remain under intense public scrutiny as they have been linked to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. With Trump back in office, there is growing concern that these groups may feel emboldened to incite further unrest. Some who emerged from prison in recent days have expressed a willingness to do it all over again if similar circumstances should arise.
Last Wednesday, just one day after receiving a pardon from Trump and being released from prison after serving a small fraction of a nearly decade sentence, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes appeared defiantly on Capitol Hill — a free man.
Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous individuals linked to the Capitol riot, Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the Justice Department’s most consequential cases, leading to an 18-year prison sentence in 2023. During his visit to Capitol Hill last Wednesday, he met with at least one lawmaker and conversed with others, staunchly defending his actions on Jan. 6 while refusing to acknowledge any responsibility for the deadly attack.
His visit to the Capitol also coincided with Speaker Mike Johnson’s revival of a special committee to reexamine the Jan. 6 case, with the goal of reshaping the narrative surrounding Trump’s role in sparking the uprising — directly challenging the findings of the bipartisan panel from two years ago, which had led to federal charges against Trump.
Those charges were summarily dismissed after Trump’s resounding election win in November, with the Justice Department citing the constitutional provision that a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted while in office. More significantly, the rapid shift in circumstances guaranteed that Trump would avoid jail time in all of his criminal cases.
Last Friday, following Rhodes’ unnerving appearance at the Capitol, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ordered Rhodes and seven of his followers to be barred from entering Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Capitol building “without first obtaining permission from the Court.” However, the decision faced swift opposition from Washington, D.C., acting U.S. Attorney Edward Martin, who wrote that the defendants, including Rhodes, were “no longer subject to the terms of supervised release and probation.”
Mehta, who presided over the seditious conspiracy trial of the convicted Stewart, reversed himself on Monday, admitting that it “would be improper for the court post-commutation to modify the original sentences,” but because President Trump’s clemency “can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement of Defendants’ terms of supervised release,” the judge relented and vacated his previous order.
Back in Indiana, Matthew Huttle was killed during a traffic stop in Jasper County on January 26, about 100 miles north of Indianapolis. He had been driving along State Road 14 when a deputy from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department pulled him over around 4:15 p.m., according to reports. The deputy attempted to take Huttle into custody, but an altercation occurred between the suspect and the officer, leading the officer to discharge his weapon and fatally wound Huttle, authorities said.
State police investigators reported finding a firearm in Huttle’s possession. However, they have not disclosed the reason for the traffic stop or why he was instructed to exit his vehicle, which ultimately led to the fatal encounter, according to Fox 59 Indianapolis.
“For full transparency, I requested the Indiana State Police to investigate this officer-involved shooting,” Jasper County Sheriff Patrick Williamson said in a statement. “The officer who is involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol and is our policy in these situations. Our condolences go out to the family of the deceased as any loss of life is traumatic to those that were close to Mr. Huttle. I will release the officer’s name once I have approval from the State Police Detectives.”
Four years ago, Matthew Huttle and his uncle, Dale Huttle, traveled from Indiana to attend Trump’s so-called “Save America” rally at the Ellipse. “Afterward, they joined the crowd and marched to the U.S. Capitol building,” according to charges filed by the Justice Department.
Once at the Capitol, both men unlawfully entered the building. Dale Huttle was seen carrying a long flagpole with an upside-down American flag, which he later used to “forcibly jab” multiple police officers, among other violent actions. Meanwhile, Matthew Huttle entered the Capitol through a Senate side entrance. The Huttles remained on Capitol grounds until after 5 p.m. Both were arrested in late 2022.