FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — A resolution has been filed in the Kentucky Senate to "acknowledge the events of January 6, 2021, and recognize those citizens who have been wrongfully held without due process."
Senate Resolution 50 was filed by GOP Sen. Lindsey Tichenor on Friday.
The resolution claims that "many of the citizens who assembled on January 6, 2021, have been wrongfully detained for exercising their constitutional rights."
It goes on to say: "many of the January 6 protestors, including many citizens of this 9 Commonwealth, have been unconstitutionally held without the right to due process and the right to a speedy trial by a jury of their peers."
Many defendants are still awaiting trial. However, the Associated Press reports that around 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes in the riot, ranging from misdemeanor offenses like trespassing to felonies like assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
Roughly 730 people have pleaded guilty to charges, while another roughly 170 have been convicted of at least one charge at a trial decided by a judge or a jury, according to an Associated Press database.
Only two defendants have been acquitted of all charges, and those were trials decided by a judge rather than a jury.
About 750 people have been sentenced, with almost two-thirds receiving some time behind bars. Prison sentences have ranged from a few days of intermittent confinement to 22 years in prison.
An identical resolution to Tichenor's was passed by the governing body of the Republican Party of Kentucky on Saturday, according to a Herald Leader report.
The Chairman of the Democratic Party of Kentucky criticized the vote, saying it supports "domestic terrorists."
"On the anniversary of the most dangerous attack on our democracy in modern history, the Republican Party of Kentucky voted -- not to condemn the violent assault on our democracy-- but to support and defend those who attacked our Capitol and our law enforcement officers on January 6," said Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge. "After Kentuckians rejected hatred and extremism this past November, the Republican Party of Kentucky and its leaders are doubling down on hate, division, and even political violence. Kentucky Republicans, especially elected officials and candidates, should condemn this appalling and unpatriotic resolution and stand up to extremism, violence and the insurrectionists that have taken over their party."
