Waterford Man Among Those Pardoned By Trump For Jan. 6 Attack

WATERFORD, CT — A Waterford man is among the 11 Connecticut residents President Donald Trump pardoned who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

James Roe Cleary, 56, of Waterford, was among those pardoned. He had been charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, a felony.

Cleary was among those who disrupted a joint session of Congress dedicated to counting the electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election, according to prosecutors.

According to court documents, Cleary was at the Lower West Tunnel on Jan. 6, 2021, where some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement occurred.

See related: Waterford Man Charged In Connection With U.S. Capitol Breach: Feds

Overall, Trump extended pardons to more than 1,500 charged in the attacks. He also commuted the sentences of another 14 people, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in some of the most serious and high-profile cases.

Trump's decision to pardon those involved in the attack amounted to a sweeping cloak of impunity for his supporters who upended the country’s tradition of peaceful transfers of power by trying to overturn his election defeat four years ago. Trump described them as “hostages” and said he expected them to be freed shortly.

"These mass pardons are sickening— the ultimate disrespect for police officers who were assaulted brutally by criminal rioters, suffering lasting injuries, & death in some cases," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.