Jason Riddle says he rejected pardon because ‘it happened. I did those things, and they weren’t pardonable’

In an interview published Friday by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), US navy veteran Jason Riddle said: “It’s almost like [Trump] was trying to say it didn’t happen. And it happened. I did those things, and they weren’t pardonable.

“I don’t want the pardon. And I … reject the pardon.”

Riddle entered the US Senate parliamentarian’s office, drank a bottle of wine, stole a book and inflicted damage at the Capitol when Trump supporters attacked the building on 6 January 2021 in a desperate attempt to the then president in office after he lost the presidency to Joe Biden weeks earlier, according to court documents. He received a 90-day prison sentence and was fined $750 in April 2022 for pleading guilty to committing misdemeanors in an attack that was linked to several deaths, including officer suicides.

  • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
    791·
    4 days ago

    It’s hard.

    My brother was deep in to this shit when our mom died. He was living with her and had no where to go.

    So he started living with me.

    I had to be an asshole about it at first. IE: in reference to the conservative media he’d watch all day I said something to the effect of “turn that hateful shit off or find somewhere else to fucking live” at one point.

    Once I got him to reduce the amount of bullshit he watched it was easier to point out a couple things that would resonate with him. Like:

    How the media he’s watching is always telling you how you should feel about the news. I didn’t tell him what to watch, but explained that journalists aren’t supposed to be telling you how to feel about the news, this is a manipulation tactic.

    I also pointed out that the media he was consuming was constantly telling you what “the leftists” think. I told him that if he wants to know what leftists think, he should listen to leftists, not the people trying to manipulate him.

    I also have gay friends. When some of them were coming over for a get-together I said, “if that’s going to be a problem, stay in your fucking room.”

    I kept pointing out how corporations are fucking us over and asking why the media he was watching never talked about that.

    I got him spending more time outside and just generally being away from technology for a few hours every day.

    I’ve also been helping him learn to live with a disability. Having to help navigate government supports for him is a good thing to reference when conservative views on health care come up.

    He’s not a card-carrying leftist yet, but he doesn’t get mad about gay people existing any more, so that’s a win. He now acknowledges that it’s the corporations fucking us with the help of both parties. It’s been almost 3 years now and he’s stubborn, but I keep at it.

    I think the short version is: get them to realize they’re being manipulated and get them to start questioning the conservative narrative, but make sure they know you care about them at the same time.

    Editing to add: using their language helps a lot too.

    Don’t say: “Trans rights are human rights” Say: “Those are your countrymen fighting for the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, just like you.”