Did the Fraternal Order of Police rescind its endorsement of President Donald Trump in response to the sweeping January 6 pardons he gave after his 2025 swearing-in? No, that's not true: The Fraternal Order of Police issued a letter that criticized pardons by both Trump and former President Joe Biden of people convicted of violence against law enforcement officers, but never rescinded their endorsement of Trump. The letter said both the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Order were "deeply discouraged" by pardons and commutations granted by both men "to individuals convicted of killing or assaulting law enforcement officers."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on January 23, 2025. It read:
I don't think it's a big enough story that The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the country, rescinded their endorsement of President Trump due to his pardoning of Jan. 6 insurrectionists
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Jan 24 18:25:53 2025 UTC)
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) issued a letter (archived here) on January 21, 2025, addressing pardons by both Biden and Trump. However, nowhere in the letter did the organization say it was rescinding its endorsement of Trump. Trump issued pardons to about 1,500 people who participated in storming the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. Biden commuted the sentence of a man who was convicted of killing two FBI officers. The FOP endorsed Trump for president in September 2024 (archived here).
This is the only part of the letter that mentions Trump and Biden, saying the organizations are "deeply discouraged" by the actions of the two politicians:
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) have had long standing and positive relationships with both President Trump and President Biden and have greatly appreciated their support of the policing profession. However, the IACP and FOP are deeply discouraged by the recent pardons and commutations granted by both the Biden and Trump Administrations to individuals convicted of killing or assaulting law enforcement officers. The IACP and FOP firmly believe that those convicted of such crimes should serve their full sentences.
This screenshot of the letter shows that the organization did not rescind their endorsement of Trump:
(Source: FOP website screenshot taken on Fri Jan 24 18:39:11 2025 UTC)
Biden commuted (archived here) the sentence of Leonard Peltier on January 20, 2025. Peltier was convicted of the murder of two FBI agents on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975, according to the FBI (archived here).
Trump issued the pardons and commutation of sentences relating to January 6, 2021, as the White House website shows (archived here). In a memo published to its website, the Department of Justice described (archived here) the riot as:
During the siege of the Capitol that day, over 140 police officers were assaulted--including over 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and over 60 from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department--the Capitol was damaged, government property was destroyed, and other government property was stolen.
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Other Lead Stories fact checks about claims involving Joe Biden can be read here and about claims involving Donald Trump can be found here.
