An Alabama man who served federal prison time for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot says he believes many defendants were treated unfairly by the federal government, but he also acknowledges he committed a crime during the chaos inside the U.S. Capitol.
says he believes many defendants were treated unfairly by the federal government, but he also acknowledges he committed a crime during the chaos inside the U.S. Capitol.
Kaleb Dillard, a Briarwood Christian School graduate, former U.S. Marine public affairs correspondent, and one-time Jan. 6 defendant who later received a presidential pardon, sat down with WBRC 6 News this week as national debate intensifies over a proposed federal compensation fund connected to people prosecuted after Jan. 6, 2021. The Trump administration’s proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund” has become a flashpoint in Washington after the Justice Department signaled the program could compensate people who suffered “weaponization and lawfare” under previous presidential administrations.
Some Jan. 6 defendants have already discussed applying for compensation, while critics — including Capitol police officers who defended the building that day — argue the proposal is inappropriate and potentially dangerous.
“One, I think to myself, ‘Oh man, that would be really nice. I might could be compensated for some of the really tough things that I had to go through,’” Dillard told WBRC.
“And then the other thing that goes through my mind as a conservative is like, I don’t think that I would really want taxpayer dollars paying me anything. ”“I would think a tax waiver of some sort would be better,” he said.
“I would obviously prefer a system that maybe kept them from having to pay the government moreso than the government paying them. ” Dillard repeatedly emphasized that he does not view himself as the primary example of someone deserving compensation, instead pointing to other Jan. 6 defendants he met while incarcerated at the federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi.
“I don’t think this fund is for people like me as much as it’s for people like Duke,” Dillard said, referring to a 72-year-old inmate he described as a grandfather who served years in prison after Jan. 6. “He had not committed a crime in his past,” Dillard said. “How do you compensate what they did to him?
” Federal prosecutors accused Dillard of illegally entering the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot and assaulting an officer as police attempted to secure doors and stop rioters from entering. Charging documents alleged Dillard grabbed an officer by the protective vest and threw him backward onto the marble floor. Dillard ultimately pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers.
He was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and served roughly eight months, including time at a halfway house in Birmingham after spending seven months at the federal prison in Yazoo City. During his interview with WBRC, Dillard acknowledged wrongdoing while also arguing the federal government pursued disproportionate punishments against many Jan. 6 defendants.
“I never argue in the book that I didn’t commit a crime,” Dillard said. “Or that I was deserving of no punishment or anything like that. ” Still, he said he believes his prosecution — and others tied to January 6 — reflected unequal justice.
“In my case, I didn’t even have a traffic violation on my record, and I was threatened with 20 years of imprisonment,” Dillard said. “The punishment didn’t fit the crime. ” Dillard argued that sentencing disparities among Jan. 6 defendants demonstrate what he views as inconsistent prosecution.
“There were people that just got way worse punishments,” he said. “Even just the variance in punishments that you see between people like Duke and myself, you say that’s a true sign that there wasn’t really fair justice being administered. ”“I don’t see myself as either of those things,” he said.
“I don’t also see myself as a martyr or some type of hero. ” Instead, Dillard said his perspective on Jan. 6 centers around what he views as excessive punishment.
“It’s not that nobody did anything wrong that day,” he said. “It’s that what was levied against them was much greater. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. ” Dillard also discussed the moments leading up to the confrontation that resulted in his assault charge.
He told WBRC he had been trying to leave the increasingly chaotic scene around the Capitol after tear gas was deployed and tensions escalated.
“I was pressed up against the wall with a police officer having a great conversation with him,” Dillard said. “He told me, ‘Dude, you need to get out of here. ’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I want to get out of here. I don’t want to be here either.
’”“That’s when the tear gas went off and things got absolutely crazy,” he said. Dillard also said he never had the opportunity to directly apologize to the officer involved in his case.
“I was never asked to give him a formal apology or anything, which I would’ve been happy to do,” he said. Much of Dillard’s public message now revolves around faith and redemption, themes central to the book he co-authored with his wife, “The whole point of the book is that we sit here with the really great ending to the story,” Dillard said.
“But in reality, if I was still sitting in a prison cell today, I would be free because of what Christ did for me. ”After his arrest, Dillard said his previous fiancée left him because of uncertainty surrounding his future and possible prison sentence.
“I told her what was going on in my life,” Dillard said. “And after several weeks, she was like, ‘I’m not going anywhere. ’”“She stood next to me as I was sentenced,” he said.
“It’s probably the greatest gift that came out of all this mess. ” Dillard described his time in prison as “the craziest time” of his life and said it gave him a drastically different view of the justice system.
“It definitely gave me a new perspective on the federal prison system and the justice system,” he said. “There’s a whole second book that could be written just about the prison thing. ”“You’re a fool if you say, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing,’” he said.
“If I woke up and it was before any of this stuff had happened, would I live my life differently? Absolutely. ”“God used this whole situation for His glory and to bring me to my family,” Dillard said.
“So I’m very grateful. ” Dillard also weighed in on the growing divide among Republicans over the proposed compensation effort, including criticism from some conservatives who oppose using taxpayer money for payouts.
“I think we operate with a conscience that we want to be fiscally conservative,” Dillard said. “When you find out the government wronged people, how do we accurately punish the government for how they wronged people? That’s what we’re all trying to answer. ” Dillard said he believes the issue becomes complicated if taxpayer dollars are ultimately used to fund compensation.
“If punishing the federal government means paying taxpayer money to people, are you really punishing the government,” he said, “or are you just punishing more taxpayers? ” At the same time, Dillard argued the federal government should still be held accountable if wrongdoing occurred during the Jan. 6 investigations and prosecutions.
Toward the end of the interview, Dillard also repeated claims that more information has emerged in recent years surrounding federal agents present in the crowd on Jan. 6 and ongoing debate over the 2020 election.
“I think as time continues, you’ll find out more and more that the news coverage of that day, the general narrative, was mostly false,” Dillard said. Despite political divisions over Jan. 6 continuing years later, Dillard said he hopes readers and viewers ultimately focus on the human side of the story.
“Our hope for readers is that they’ll read the book and be encouraged when they’re going through something really, really tough,” he said. “To lean on God and trust in the only person that can really give you peace through those tough trials in life. ”Bicyclist struck, killed early Tuesday morning in Dallas CountyProtecting yourself from ticks, mosquitos
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