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On his first day back in office Monday, President Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 people charged with involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Among them was Jason Riddle, a Keene man who ran unsuccessfully for Congress after being convicted for his role in the riot.
More than 100 police officers were injured and Capitol grounds sustained about $2.8 million in damage when Trump supporters breached Capitol security while Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. One rioter was shot and killed by Capitol police and an officer died after being sprayed with a chemical during the attack. Four police officers on the scene that day later died by suicide.
Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to pardon Jan. 6 participants, whom he described as “patriots” and “hostages.” The pardons have been met with excitement and relief from rioters and other Trump supporters and criticism from victims of the attack, including injured Capitol police officers.
Riddle told The Sentinel Tuesday he no longer supports Trump. He voted for Kamala Harris in November, he said, and donated to her campaign. He also signed up to volunteer.
Riddle pleaded guilty in 2022 to three counts of theft of government property and five counts of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to 90 days in federal prison and three years of probation. He served his prison sentence in 2022.
He was one of five Granite Staters charged in relation to the riot, according to reporting by Seacoast Online, and the only person from the Monadnock Region charged.
Like many other rioters, Riddle left a digital footprint of his actions, allowing the FBI to find and charge him. He also spoke with media outlets, including The Sentinel.
In an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, Shayne Tongbua, a special agent with the FBI, wrote that Riddle gave an interview to NBC10 Boston News discussing his actions on Jan. 6. In that interview, he said he entered the building, poured himself a glass of wine from a liquor cabinet in a lawmaker’s office, “chugged it and got out of there,” according to the affidavit.
Riddle also provided photos and videos of the events inside the Capitol building that day to the news station, Tongbua wrote.
Going to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, was “more or less routine at that point,” Riddle, now 36, recalled Tuesday, explaining how he’d traveled the country to attend Trump rallies regularly. Often between jobs because of his drinking, Riddle said he used the rallies as a way to feel better.
Inside the Capitol building that day, Riddle drank stolen wine and said he watched as other rioters kicked out windows. At first, he said he was excited about what was happening and enjoyed “seeing lawmakers looking down in fear.”
But when he heard that someone had been shot, he said that excitement quickly turned to fear.
Riddle said Tuesday he’s grateful for the rehabilitation from alcohol addiction that his conviction led to. It turned his life around, he said.
As for the pardon, it “doesn’t help at all,” Riddle said. “It’s the guy who started the riots saying it was OK.”
He also gave his thoughts on the matter in a letter to the editor in The Sentinel in September. “I’d rather be able to look at myself in the mirror, even with the criminal record. Trump can keep his pardon; I find pardons more useful before one goes to jail.” A pardon also is unlikely to alleviate concerns from employers, he noted.
In 2021, Riddle announced plans to run as a Republican in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes all of the Monadnock Region, in the following year, according to previous Sentinel reporting. The seat he was targeting was then held by Annie Kuster, a Hopkinton Democrat who was at the Capitol when the riot started and has spoken publicly about experiencing post-traumatic stress from the events of Jan. 6.
Riddle ran again in 2024, again unsuccessfully.
Abigail Ham can be reached at 603-355 8554 or aham@keenesentinel.com.

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