Background

Elias Irizarry was a 19-year-old freshman at The Citadel military college in South Carolina and a Civil Air Patrol member when he traveled to Washington and took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was discharged from The Citadel because of his involvement, later readmitted with help from the sentencing judge, and graduated in 2024. He ran unsuccessfully in a 2024 Republican primary for the South Carolina state legislature. President Trump pardoned him on January 20, 2025. In June 2026, reporting from NBC News, The Hill, and The Guardian described his appointment as a Pentagon political appointee in the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office, in the irregular warfare and counterterrorism section—a unit whose portfolio includes embassy security, personnel recovery, and hostage rescue.

The Case

Federal prosecutors said Irizarry entered the Capitol through a broken window while holding a metal pole, spent hours with the mob, watched as rioters assaulted officers, climbed scaffolding to reach the upper West Terrace, and waved other rioters up stairs to access the building. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and was sentenced on March 15, 2023, to 14 days’ incarceration plus assessments and restitution. At sentencing he called January 6 “the largest attack on our democracy since the civil war” and said he was ashamed to be part of it; in a letter to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan he apologized for “foolish” conduct and for bringing shame on himself, his family, and his country. Judge Chutkan said his record before the riot had been “quite commendable” and offered to write a letter to help him reapply to The Citadel. His conduct was part of the January 6 attack, which disrupted the certification of the presidential election, endangered law enforcement, and damaged public trust in the peaceful transfer of power.

After his pardon, in June 2026, the Trump administration placed Irizarry in a sensitive national security role. Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said he was “a qualified, patriotic young professional” and that the department was “proud to have him as a political appointee.” According to The Guardian and other outlets citing Pentagon officials familiar with the hire, staff raised alarm that someone convicted in the assault on the Capitol could hold a post overseeing highly classified special operations and counterterrorism work, including missions that place personnel in complex and dangerous environments.

The Pardon

On January 20, 2025, President Trump granted Elias Irizarry a full pardon under the proclamation granting pardons and commutations for certain offenses relating to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Sources

• President Trump's Proclamation Granting Pardons and Commutations for Jan. 6 Offenses (DOJ)
• Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences (White House, Jan 20, 2025)
• List of cases of the January 6 United States Capitol attack (Wikipedia)
• Pentagon hires convicted Jan. 6 rioter for counterterrorism post (The Hill, June 2026)
• Jan. 6 defendant who said he was ashamed of ‘foolish’ actions now works at Pentagon (NBC News, June 2026)
• Pentagon appoints convicted January 6 rioter to sensitive counter-terrorism role (The Guardian, June 2026)