A year after President Trump issued blanket pardons to hundreds of individuals convicted for their roles in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a Washington-based political action committee is launching a digital dragnet to keep those individuals in the public eye.
Arsenal PAC announced Monday that it is in the final testing phase of “Insurrection Watch,” an automated system designed to track the post-pardon activities of J6 offenders.
The platform utilizes software to scour public records, campaign finance filings, and social media feeds continuously, flagging instances where a pardoned individual attempts to enter public life—whether by running for local office, launching a podcast, or starting a business.
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According to the developers, the tool is a direct response to a shifting political landscape where former defendants are repositioning themselves as commentators or candidates.
“Police officers were beaten with flagpoles. Lawmakers hid under desks while rioters hunted them down. A gallows was erected on the Capitol lawn,” said Samantha Boucher, executive director of Arsenal PAC in a press release. “They were given a pardon erasure on their sentence. It doesn’t erase what we all watched happen, or the threat they still pose.”
The launch comes amid reports that several pardon recipients have already filed paperwork to run for federal and local offices since their release in January 2025. Additionally, a report released last week by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee highlighted a trend of recidivism, noting that many pardoned rioters have been charged with new crimes in the year since their release.
Unlike traditional watchdogs that rely on manual updates to databases, Insurrection Watch operates autonomously. It is programmed to detect new activity—such as a campaign filing or an arrest record—the moment it appears in official databases.
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“You do not get to attack America and then slip away into the shadows,” Boucher said. “And a pardon is not a permission slip to commit more violence against your neighbors.”
Arsenal PAC, which takes its name from Franklin Roosevelt’s “Arsenal of Democracy” speech, focuses on building technical infrastructure for pro-democracy causes. The group is composed of intelligence analysts, software developers, and political organizers. The PAC also operates “ResistMap,” a conflict monitoring platform that tracks ICE enforcement and political violence.
Insurrection Watch is expected to launch to the public later this month.
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