While having his entire Jan. 6 conviction and criminal case tossed out is a “step in the right direction,” former sheriff’s deputy Colt McAbee says he must rebuild his life amid ongoing cries of “insurrection” from the left.
In a per curiam order March 17, a special three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated McAbee’s Jan. 6 criminal conviction and remanded the case to the U.S. district court, where the same day, it was dismissed as moot.
Both actions were based on McAbee’s appeal filed in March 2024 and a U.S. Department of Justice now under the control of President Donald J. Trump.
‘I was genuinely helping people there.’
“At the end of the day, it’s just words on paper,” McAbee, 31, of Unionville, Tenn., told Blaze News. “People still have their own opinions. The Democrats still call us insurrectionists and domestic terrorists, even though it’s their party that destroyed our cities and is now destroying our vehicles.”
McAbee was released from the federal prison in Rochester, Minn., on Jan. 20, hours after President Trump issued a pardon declaration covering more than 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants. He walked out into the minus-18-degree cold to hear a shout of “FREEDOM” from his waiting wife, Sarah, and her mother, Kim.
“Since I was released, I’ve been looking for a new career and a way to take care of my family financially,” McAbee said. “It’s still a struggle. I’m still fighting for the restoration of my rights in Tennessee.”
McAbee was one of the most high-profile Jan. 6 defendants, based on the government’s claim that he was a lawless law officer who came to Washington, D.C., that day to commit violence against police.
Chronicled extensively by Blaze News, the case was described as a “manifest injustice” by McAbee’s onetime defense attorney, William Shipley.
Colt McAbee on his way home after a pardon from President Trump. Photo courtesy of Sarah McAbee
As detailed in a Blaze News investigation, federal prosecutors lied, twisted evidence, and withheld material from a judge in order to keep McAbee behind bars. A careful review of video evidence shows that McAbee never assaulted Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte as alleged. He shielded him and helped him get back to the police line.
A jury found McAbee guilty on five criminal counts in October 2023. He had earlier pleaded guilty to slapping one police officer who cross-checked McAbee’s broken shoulder with a riot stick. McAbee received a 70-month prison sentence on Feb. 29, 2024.
McAbee said having the entire case dismissed shows he was trying to help people in front of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, including Officer Wayte and a dying Rosanne Boyland, who was unconscious and being ignored by police.
Speaking out
“I feel a sense of justice being served,” McAbee said. “It shows that I was genuinely helping people there. … It’s a step in the right direction.”
The McAbees have been vocal about his case and the weaponized criminal justice system since he returned to Tennessee.
‘I pray that everything goes back to normal.’
“I’ve used my experience to speak out. I’ve done several appearances and speeches since then, and it’s amazing that people still don’t know the truth of what happened that day,” McAbee said. “Of course, people are amazed about the atrocities that happened on the inside.”
McAbee filed suit against the District of Columbia Department of Corrections and former Lt. Crystal Lancaster for an incident in September 2022 in which McAbee said he was repeatedly hit with a stream of pepper spray for removing his COVID mask in order to take medication.
“I’ve been pretty vocal about it and won’t stop until everything is over,” McAbee said. “More and more is coming out, thanks to [Blaze Media investigative journalists Joe Hanneman] and Steve Baker. The truth will come out in full!”
For now, McAbee said he faces an uncertain future.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “I just hope that it works out for all of us.
“I pray that everything goes back to normal, but what is normal?”
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