A former Pulaski man sentenced to 37 months in prison for assaulting a police officer during the riot that took place Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol was pardoned and released Jan. 21 from a federal prison.
Riley Kasper, 26, was one of the about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants pardoned or had their sentences commuted by President Donald Trump after he took office Jan. 20.
Trump campaigned on pardoning those prosecuted for storming the Capitol and interrupting the Senate’s certifying the electoral count for the 2020 election.
On Jan. 21, Kasper was released from Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan, according of Bureau of Prisons online records.
He was arrested in Ashland in March 2022 and subsequently charged with assaulting a police officer.
According to court documents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., Kasper sprayed what is believed to be a chemical bear spray toward Metropolitan Police officers attempting to secure the Capitol building and grounds.
Also on Jan. 6, Kasper stated in a message to another person on social media: “I pepper sprayed 3 cops so bad they got undressed and went home, gently brazed [sic] many others several times. I basically organized my own little militia and we f——ing took over Congress.” He also wrote, “I mean the rest of the crowd gave support, but as you can see in that video it was my group that busted the first gate and kept chasing the cops down and pushing them back into the capital [sic].”
Kasper continued the next day: “You charge that line and start spraying they start running for cover like you’re coming at them with an ak” and “there is definitely something satisfying about pepper spraying cops in riot gear …”
His actions were also reordered on a police body camera.
Kasper pleaded guilty in federal court in the District of Columbia in September 2023 to felony assault of an officer. He was sentenced in December 2023 by District Judge Royce Lamberth, who also ordered Kasper to serve two years of supervised release and to pay restitution of $2,000.
Ten other Wisconsin residents were charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection and by some, Kasper’s conduct was believed to be the most egregious.
Pardons generally assume the offender is guilty of the charged offense and has been rehabilitated.
Pardons symbolize forgiveness for the crime, but don’t erase a conviction and can remain as a notation on an individual’s federal criminal record, according to Nolo, a website that provides legal information to the public.
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