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Former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, convicted on Jan. 6th related charges, calls potential pardon “a little insulting”

ALAMOGORODO, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Couy Griffin, the 'Cowboys for Trump' founder and former Otero County Commissioner, spoke with ABC-7 Monday about a potential pardon from President Trump.

Griffin was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing for his role in the January, 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol back in 2021.

“If I have to live the rest of my life with a misdemeanor from January the 6th, I’ll carry that with honor," said Griffin.

Griffin, while proudly wearing his 'Cowboys for Trump' hat, told ABC-7 he still doesn’t have any regrets about what happened at the U.S. Capitol four years ago, nor does he believe he did anything wrong.

“I’m glad that I went, I wasn’t violent, didn’t escalate any violence, if anything I de-escalated violence by praying with people," said Griffin.

Griffin’s actions led to him being removed as a county commissioner in 2022, and later being banned from ever holding public office in New Mexico again in 2023.

He now works as a golf cart mechanic in Alamogordo.

Hours after ABC-7's interview with Griffin, President Trump signed an executive order that granted pardons or commuted sentences to all of the 1,500 people charged and convicted of crimes related to the attack, including those that assaulted police officers.

As of the publication of this story, Griffin had not yet heard from someone in the Trump Administration regarding a pardon.

However, Griffin said he’s not interested in one.

“Whenever President Trump first spoke about pardoning the Jan. 6ers, honestly it was almost a little bit insulting to me, because guilty people need pardons, criminals need pardons, but innocent people don’t, all I need is a fair shake in the court room," said Griffin.

He told ABC-7 he's currently in the process of once again appealing his conviction, the first of which was upheld by a federal appeals court back in October.

ABC-7 has also reached out to the New Mexico Attorney General’s office for clarification on what a pardon would mean for Griffin, specifically to see if he would still be barred from holding public office in the state.

While Griffin says he has taken a step back from politics, he said he wouldn’t mind a position somewhere in the Trump administration, or running for Otero County Sheriff if he were allowed to do so in the future.

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Jason McNabb

Reporter/Multimedia Journalist & ABC-7 Weekend Primetime Anchor

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