A Jan. 6 rioter doesn't want Trump's pardon. Supreme Court weighs in. [View all]

Source: USA Today

Updated March 9, 2026, 1:05 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON − A presidential pardon? No thanks, said Glenn Brooks, who was convicted for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He would rather try to clear his name through the courts than accept a pardon from President Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court on March 9 declined to give Brooks a chance to do that. Lower courts had canceled Brooks’ conviction for entering the Capitol and dismissed his appeal as no longer relevant after Trump last year pardoned nearly 1,600 people charged in the 2021 riot.

But Brooks, a home remodeling contractor and a "deeply religious man," argued he has the right to try to fully exonerate himself. "A forced pardon operates as a compelled confession, branding the individual with guilt and stripping him of his chosen appellate forum," Brooks’ lawyers told the Supreme Court.

His lawyers also said the issue is "of profound national importance given the increased use of presidential pardons in politically sensitive cases." The Department of Justice waived its right to respond to Brooks' Supreme Court appeal.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/09/supreme-court-jan-6-rioter-reject-trump-pardon/88985097007/