Kentucky state GOP passes resolution for ‘wrongfully held’ suspects in Jan. 6 riot

The governing body of the Republican Party of Kentucky passed a resolution Saturday claiming many people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have “been wrongfully held.”

It recognizes “citizens who have been held without due process” after the attempted insurrection led by supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump, who has falsely asserted he won the 2020 presidential election.

The resolution is identical to one filed by Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, in the Kentucky Senate on Friday.

Bobbie Coleman, chair of the Hardin County GOP who read the resolution at Saturday’s meeting, told the Herald-Leader the vote was tight: The Republican State Central Committee, the governing body of the Republican Party of Kentucky, adopted the resolution by a razor-thin 34-32 vote.

“I’m not saying that not everybody was innocent, but there’s a lot that are,” Coleman said. “If the justice system was doing it properly and constitutionally, then the ones that deserve to be in there (jail) would be in there and the ones that were were led in or were just trespassing wouldn’t.”

She estimated that “99 percent” of people who attended the rally preceding the Capitol riot were “just there to practice their First Amendment” rights.

As of December 2023, about 1,240 people have been arrested, according to the New York Times. The Department of Justice reported in October that nearly 600 people had pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Capitol riot and nearly 100 had been convicted by a jury.

The New York Times reported two people have been acquitted.

Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge said the GOP resolution amounted to supporting and defending “those who attacked our Capitol and our law enforcement officers on January 6.”

“After Kentuckians rejected hatred and extremism this past November, the Republican Party of Kentucky and its leaders are doubling down on hate, division, and even political violence,” Elridge said in a statement.

“Kentucky Republicans, especially elected officials and candidates, should condemn this appalling and unpatriotic resolution and stand up to extremism, violence and the insurrectionists that have taken over their party.”

A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Kentucky has yet to respond to a request for comment on the resolution.

The Kentucky GOP resolution does not take any specific action, but “acknowledge(s) the events of January 6, 2021, and recognize(s) those citizens who have been wrongfully held without due process.”

In his bid to regain the presidency this year, Trump has underplayed the severity of the attack on the U.S. Capitol and called those charged with crimes and still detained “J6 hostages.”

While campaigning in Iowa Saturday, Trump dismissed the Jan. 6 riot as “patriotic and peaceful.”

He also called on President Biden to release those convinced and imprisoned for crimes related to the riot.

“They ought to release the J6 hostages,” Trump said in at a campaign stop in Clinton, Iowa. “I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners.”

The Republican Party of Kentucky recently underwent a change in leadership, as Lexington attorney and former state representative Robert Benvenuti took the reins as chair last month after former chair Mac Brown’s tenure ended.

Brown, in an exit interview with a Louisville TV station, said the Republican party should move on from Trump.