Colorado Democrats on Monday condemned the pardons issued by President Donald Trump for defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.

Sponsored by Sens. Matthew Ball of Denver and Nick Hinrichsen of Pueblo, Joint Resolution 6 criticized Trump for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he used rhetoric, such as telling rally-goers that the 2020 election had been “stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats,” and saying, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”

The resolution said the defendants “openly called for violence against political figures, including calling for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence” and noted that a gallows with a noose was erected on Capitol grounds.

The Senate resolution said the pardons “erode the rule of law and signal an acceptance of political violence, so long as the violence was committed by those who support President Trump.” The decision, the resolution added, desecrates “the service and sacrifice of those who have defended the Constitution against such enemies.” 

On his first day in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 individuals who took part in the Jan. 6 attack. That included individuals who assaulted law enforcement officers. One Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, died after suffering two strokes the day after the attack.

In pardoning the individuals, Trump said he was ending the “grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.” His supporters also insisted that prosecution against the individuals had been heavy-handed. 

At least 20 individuals pardoned on Jan. 20 were from Colorado. That included at least a half-dozen Coloradans either charged or convicted of assaulting police officers.

Hinrichsen also effectively argued that the pardons were an affront to military veterans.

Last Friday, the House and Senate jointly held Military and POW/MIA Appreciation Day, but that’s a hard day for Hinrichsen, he said, as he suffers from PTSD. Such days, he said, bring back painful memories, including his own service in Baghdad in June, 2011, when the Army base he served on was attacked by 30 rockets. 

Five soldiers died, including his next-door neighbor, and a dozen more were wounded, he said. Hinrichsen’s duties included coordinating transport for the dead, and he was part of the final salute for those fallen soldiers whose bodies were flown back to the U.S.

Hinrichsen said on the day the president issued the pardons, he heard from a fellow soldier involved in that detail.

“I sacrificed my youth and my friends sacrificed their lives for a lot of Americans who are truly and unequivocally unworthy of those sacrifices,” his friend told him, Hinrichsen said.

“I have heard the mental contortions used to justify the insurrection and to justify those pardons,” he said. 

He pleaded with his colleagues to “muster the courage to speak with truth about the greatest assault on this constitution from within our own citizenry in 160 years.” Otherwise, any words of solemnity for the sacrifice of those who serve “are nothing but hollow, insulting utterances,” he said. 

Hinrichsen’s comments drew a response from Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park.

“I find it shameful that resolutions would be used in a political manner,” Baisley said, protesting the accusations against a “duly-elected president.”

Over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction, said he agreed with Vice President JD Vance, who had said before Jan. 20 the President should not pardon those convicted of violent crimes. Vance has since reversed his position, stating the President made “the right decision.”

The resolution passed on a 21-12 party-line vote and now heads to the House.