Cincinnati’s police union ‘frustrated’ by President Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons – WKRC TV Cincinnati
Now 13 Sat 39 Sun 38by Paige Barnes, WKRCTOPICS:CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Local law enforcement is responding to President Trump’s pardons for participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack.Over 1,500 people are impacted, and about a dozen are from the Tri-State. Quite simply, the president of Cincinnati’s FOP Queen City Lodge #69 is frustrated.He said that Trump should have taken a case-by-case approach. Cincinnati’s FOP President Ken Kober said that the union endorsed President Trump, but the pardons rubbed a lot of officers the wrong way.”What message does this send to law enforcement?” asked Local 12.”Well, I mean, it certainly comes into question this day, ‘Does the President fully support the police?’ In his last term, he did fully support us. The biggest message from this is, ‘Are people going to think that it’s okay now to assault law enforcement officers?’ And of course, we know that it’s not, but this just doesn’t sit well with most law enforcement officers,” said Kober.Local 12 read through some of the violent offenses against officers. In one case, a Harrison man allegedly swung an axe handle twice at a police officer who was trying to deploy pepper spray.”That’s not even assault on [an] officer. It’s a felonious assault. You’re using a deadly weapon, swinging it at someone, much less a police officer. That’s someone that should still be incarcerated, and it’s a shame that they’re not,” Kober said.Kober said that it’s not the first time he’s felt law enforcement hasn’t gotten justice. In 2020, some Black Lives Matter protests turned violent, with more than a hundred cases later dropped by city prosecutors.”It just seems like it’s the police that are always in the middle of some kind of political fight, and it’s our job just to keep the community safe, and we just keep moving along, and tomorrow is a new day,” Kober said.Kober said that he’s more sympathetic toward people who were charged with non-violent offenses.”When we endorse people, we endorse people based off of who we think would be best for our organization, and sometimes they let us down. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to be supportive of us in the future,” Kober said.At least three Tri-State residents were charged with assaulting officers. Vice President JD Vance has said people who were violent should “obviously” not be pardoned, but that it was a “bit of a gray area.”
