The Colorado legislature on Friday officially condemned the pardons issued by President Donald Trump to people convicted for their actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — but its resolution passed over the universal objections of the Republican minority.
All 12 Republicans in the Senate and all 22 in the House voted against the amendment. House Republicans turned their backs in protest as the resolution was being read on the House floor Friday and then filibustered the resolution for the next several hours. The Senate approved the resolution earlier this month.
Democrats, who occupy nearly two-thirds of the seats in the state legislature, universally supported the condemnation. (One Democratic representative voted no accidentally, then signed on as a co-sponsor of the resolution to signal her support.)
“We need to stand up and protect the rule of law and our democratic norms. That is critical,” said Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat.
One of Trump’s first acts as he started his second term last month was more than 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Following months of lies asserted by Trump and others about his loss, a mob of people stormed the building to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. They smashed windows, broke into congressional members’ offices and attacked Capitol police officers.
More than 100 police officers were injured, one and several others . A Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed during the riot as she tried to climb through a broken window of a barricaded Capitol doorway. More than 1,200 people were convicted in connection with the riot.
Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo Democrat, introduced — titled “Condemnation of January 6 Insurrection Pardons” — on the Senate floor on Feb. 10. He invoked his time in the Army and serving in Iraq, as well as friends there who died in service to the country and the Constitution.
The Jan. 6 riot was a direct attack on the country’s founding document, he said, and pardoning those responsible was in insult to that service and sacrifice.
“Every justification to either endorse or sidestep what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, is rooted in lies,” Hinrichsen said. “So colleagues, if we cannot, regardless of party, muster the courage to speak with truth about the greatest assault on this Constitution from within our own citizenry in 160 years — or condemn the aid and comfort now given to its enemies, who sought to render the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in its defense to have been in vain — then any words of solemnity to that sacrifice are nothing but hollow, insulting utterances.
“I have no desire to sit and smile politely or (engage in) such performance, and I ask for a bipartisan aye vote.”
While every Republican in the Senate voted against the resolution, only Sen. Mark Baisley, of Woodland Park — — spoke against it. He called it “an inappropriate and shameful use of the resolution process and beneath the dignity of this legislative body.”
The resolution became an explicit flashpoint in the House when it was heard Friday. Republicans were intent on dragging out the debate. Members argued the resolution didn’t address problems the state is facing, such as the high cost of living, and was being wielded as as political wedge.
“Is this resolution designed to actually condemn someone and his actions, and make some moral statement about what he did or his leadership?” said Rep. Stephanie Luck, a Penrose Republican. “Or is this just political theater designed for a particular constituency, who right now is spinning a little bit because the election results this last November didn’t go their way?”
She later listed off the names of for their roles in the attack, including for kicking, punching and dragging police officers. Though of , Luck said Friday that “the vast majority” of Jan. 6 rioters “walked around the people’s house” and “took a little tour.”
Though Republican lawmakers accused Democrats of wasting time, Rep. Brandi Bradley, a Littleton Republican, that Republicans were planning to “fight for six hours and (Democrats) won’t be able to pass any bills!!!!”
The House Republicans’ filibuster lasted more than five hours. Democrats then brought forward a bill regulating the sale of gun ammunition — which Republicans were also set to oppose at length — in the late afternoon.
Rep. Scott Bottoms, a Colorado Springs Republican and declared gubernatorial candidate, said he would use the resolution as a campaign issue and predicted it would win him hundreds of thousands of votes.
Mabrey defended the urgency of the resolution. It is a declaration of the state’s values, he said, and the country’s values.
“It is a violation of the norms of our country that the president pardoned all these people — people who assaulted police officers. (Trump) is saying he does not want to let justice happen,” Mabrey said.
A Colorado judge in 2023 found Trump engaged in insurrection for his actions around the Jan. 6 riot, and the Colorado Supreme Court found he should be disqualified from the 2024 ballot because he violated the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause.
The U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Colorado courtap ban on Trump from the ballot but left the insurrection finding in place. There has been no formal conviction of Trump on the basis of insurrection, however.
