KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.
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President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people charged in the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His pardon includes seven people from the Kansas City area.
Carey John Walden, known as CJ, was happy to be pardoned by the president. He was charged and pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol building.
Walden's three year supervised probation ended just two days before receiving the president's pardon. He's now navigating what life after a pardon and after January 6 will look like.
"It's like a huge weight lifted off my chest," Walden said. "I didn't think that what happened was going to happen the way it did."
Walden's experience on Jan. 6, 2021, started when he joined a group of friends going to the nation's capital.
"I wanted to go to the city of D.C., see the Smithsonian museums and the Vietnam War Memorial," Walden said. "As far as the [Stop the Steal] rally, I'm not typically into that sort of thing."
He explained he was with a separate group at Union Station in D.C. when he started hearing about commotion at the Capitol building.
"Everyone was like 'There's something going on at the Capitol'," Walden said. "That's why I went to the Capitol cause I was like, I got to see."
Walden then began filming and documenting what was happening. He posted and sent several videos on Facebook.
"I knew that this was big news, this was historic stuff, which is one of the reasons I took pictures and was there," Walden said. "This doesn't happen everyday."
When everyone started moving toward the Capitol, Walden's mindset led him to climb the Capitol building and go in.
"Basically follow the crowd," Walden said. "I think a lot of us knew we probably weren't supposed to be in this building, certainly not supposed to climb through a broken window to take a look. But at that point it had already happened and a lot of us weren't tearing things up."
Walden explained he doesn't agree with the violence that took place.
"When I heard gunshots was about the time I said, 'OK, it's time for me to high tail it out of there,'" Walden said. "I'm not prepared to get shot over this. As far as people beating up on cops, I don't agree with that."
His digital footprint ultimately led the FBI to track him down after a tipster sent them Walden's social media posts.
Three years of supervised probation later, President Trump pardoned Walden and about 1,500 others involved in Jan. 6.
"He's done the right thing by doing this," Walden said.
His conviction now erased, but consequences still linger.
"I regret the way the whole thing happened that way," Walden said. "More than anything, I regret my family had to deal with a lot of the stuff I had to deal with. My kids, particularly, I really felt like they paid the price. They were embarrassed by their dad."
But Walden doesn't view it as a bad memory.
"I'm not going to say that I'm proud that I stood up and did this," Walden said. "But am I ashamed? No, I can't tell you that I am."
Now officially pardoned, Walden plans to go back to normal life and visit the Capitol building as a tourist.
"I would like to go to D.C. now that I can," Walden said.
Six other Kansas City area residents — Jennifer Parks, Esther Schwemmer, Ryan Ashlock, William Chrestman, Louis Enrique Colon and Christopher Kuehne were also pardoned.
Two Democrat Congress members representing Kansas and Missouri expressed disappointment in Trump's pardons.
"Rather than pardoning criminals convicted of violent attacks on law enforcement, the President should focus on lowering grocery and gas prices," Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids said in a statement to KSHB 41.
Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II shared the following statement with KSHB 41:
January 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days in American history. As the world looked on and Americans witnessed with their own eyes, President Trump incited an insurrection in an effort to illegally extend his hold on the presidency and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. As a result of the chaos and violence that ensued, more than 100 police officers were injured, several died of their injuries, and the U.S. Capitol building was desecrated, with blood, feces, and other bodily fluids smeared within the halls of Congress.
As I reflect on the horrors of that day, it is deeply shocking, but not the least bit surprising, that one of the first actions taken by President Trump on his first day in office was not to help lower costs at the grocery store or combat America’s housing affordability crisis, but rather to provide a blanket pardon to more than 1,500 criminals that were convicted of a multitude of crimes on January 6, including those who assaulted the officers bravely defending our democracy.
This deeply disgraceful action by the President will only further inflame divisions within the nation while reopening the wounds of that tragic day, ensuring each Capitol Police Officer and the families of those no longer with us must face those traumatic events once again. To those families, I am deeply sorry.
Watch Walden's full interview with KSHB 41's Isabella Ledonne below:
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