The Minnesota Senate passed a resolution Tuesday condemning President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 rioters, with all Democrats voting in favor while Republicans either opposed it or skipped the vote.
The resolution passed on a 34-22 vote. Ten Republicans didn’t vote on the measure.
“We have a duty to show leadership, shape public opinion and defend our democracy, not just remain silently on the sidelines while our country’s leader undermines our law enforcement and jeopardizes the very foundation of our country,” Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, said in a statement Tuesday. “This pardon was a blatant abuse of presidential power.”
Upon taking office in January, Trump issued a blanket pardon of the 1,500-plus people who were charged or convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Fifteen Minnesotans were among those pardoned, including eight who had been convicted and sentenced.
The Senate initially debated the resolution condemning the pardons last week before bringing it back up for a vote on Tuesday. Latz, who authored the resolution, recounted how rioters swarmed the Capitol that day and assaulted police officers in plain sight, using everything from flagpoles and batons to chemical irritants as weapons.
“The evidence of such widespread criminal destruction is indisputable,” Latz said during last week’s debate. He urged Republicans and Democrats in the chamber to come together to condemn the pardons.
Sen. Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, called the pardons “a slap in the face to law enforcement everywhere.”
Senate Republicans criticized the resolution as divisive and a “waste of time.” They said Democrats, who control the Senate by a 34-32 margin, should be focusing on issues relevant to Minnesota, such as how to address a looming projected budget deficit.
