Riley Kasper speaks about his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol where Kasper was convicted of pepper-spraying police officers. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — It’s been more than four years since Riley Kasper of Clintonville found himself in the middle of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“That’s the kind of stuff you see on the news in third world countries. I couldn’t believe that that happened in America. It was shocking,” Kasper said.
Twenty-two years old at the time, Kasper, a supporter of President Donald Trump, said he’d never been to Washington, D.C. before his trip in 2021.
He went to see the national capital sights and found himself arriving in town the morning of a Trump rally which preceded the congressional vote to certify the 2020 election.
Trump, who spoke at the rally, repeatedly claimed the election was stolen, going as far as accusing Democrats of voter fraud and rigging the election.
The results of the 2020 election were affirmed by reviews, recounts and audits in all six of the battleground states where Trump disputed his loss. That included two recounts in Wisconsin that Trump paid for.
“I guess no,” Kasper said when asked if his intent was to prevent certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. “I guess we thought there was a chance if we drew enough attention to it, more people would look into the election, investigate it and actually find proof of widespread fraud and then if there was proof of fraud, then yeah, obviously something would have to be done with that.”
But as the world saw, what started out as a peaceful protest turned violent.
“I didn’t believe in the election. I went there, I wanted to protest it. I had no idea that anything that happened was actually going to happen. I went there, was going to do my civic duty, peaceful protest,” Kasper said.
Thousands of people, including Kasper, stormed towards and into the Capitol.
“Once the gates started getting knocked down, I did hesitate for a second but there were so many people there. The whole crowd was going in one direction and basically you were going,” he said.
Kasper says he never entered the Capitol building, but admits to using a can of bear spray — that someone else handed to him — on police officers.
“I don’t apologize for going to D.C. that day and voicing my opinion and standing up for what I believe, but those officers did not deserve what I did,” he said.
When asked whether he was ashamed of his actions, he responded, “I’m ashamed that I assaulted those officers. I’m not ashamed that I stood up for what I believed.”
Kasper’s actions led to his arrest by federal agents, more than a year after the riot. He was charged, eventually convicted and sentenced to 37 months in a Michigan federal prison.
But on Monday night, 10 months into his sentence, Kasper and the other rioters were pardoned by Trump.
He was released from prison at about 1:30 am. Tuesday.
“I didn’t think I was going to be let out. I thought I still had several more months left to do,” Kasper said.
His release and the pardons of about 1,600 involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, did not sit well with some lawmakers.
“The release of violent felons who brutally beat police officers and women doesn’t make America safer, it undermines public safety in community after community after community in the United States of America,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York.
Capitol police officers who were injured on Jan 6, 2021, and then called to duty again during Trump’s inauguration, denounced the move, too.
“All these people were just pardoned by Donald Trump who says that they were the real victims, that they were the patriots. I don’t understand how anyone can believe that,” said Capitol police officer Daniel Hodges.
Kasper says he got caught up in the moment on Jan. 6, 2021 and deserved to be punished.
But now that he’s out of prison, he’s focused on his family and work, and says he has no plans to participate in any kind of protest in the future and he would decline any invitation to Washington, D.C. by Trump to recognize his pardon.
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