Jeffrey Scott Brown, one of the first three men to be convicted for assaulting police during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, will be hosted Friday by a local Republican club that has described him as a patriot and a “victim of the January 6 tragedy.”
Brown, of Santa Ana, is slated to be the key speaker at the March 7 monthly luncheon of the Republican Club of Laguna Woods. He’s expected to share his story from Jan. 6 and offer “updates on his court case and pardon,” according to the club.
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The meeting is open only to club members and their guests, though club president Pat Micone said a video recording might be available later.
“We have chosen to keep this event private. We look forward to hearing our speaker’s story,” said Micone.
Security camera footage and a YouTube video captured images of Brown spraying pepper spray at Capitol and Metropolitan police officers, according to court records. In the video, Brown is seen at the Lower West Terrace entrance, using his body to push the crowd forward and spraying an officer whose gas mask had been torn off his face.
Court records show that Brown initially struggled to use the spray canister before being shown how to operate it. But once he mastered the technique, Brown moved to the front of the rioters and sprayed officers as they tried to maintain the line.
In December 2022, Brown and two other men were convicted for their actions during the Capitol riot, which delayed a joint session of Congress convened to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Brown was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison.
But Brown’s situation changed in January, when President Donald Trump issued full commutations and pardons to those indicted or sentenced in connection with the Capitol riot. That list included people, like Brown, convicted of crimes involving violence against police officers.
According to the invitation for the luncheon, Brown’s interest in politics was sparked in June, 2015, when Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his White House run. It was, according to the invite, “an event that marked the beginning of and engaging and transformative journey.”
It’s unclear if Brown would be welcome at all other GOP events.
Will O’Neill, the newly elected chair of the Orange County Republican Party, said the county party has no position on Brown’s invitation to speak. He noted that local Republican clubs operate independently of the Orange County GOP, and the Republican Club of Laguna Woods is not officially recognized by the county party.
Brown’s appearance also has drawn attention from outside the Republican party. The Laguna Woods Democratic Club has scheduled a protest outside the meeting, just before the luncheon begins.
The Democratic group’s president, Mary Ribando, said the club has received complaints about Brown’s appearance, from members and from others in Laguna Woods.
“Within the village, we have been in touch with security and the village administration. Our hope was they might ask the Republican club to rescind the invitation to their scheduled speaker, but free speech prevails,” she said.
Trump’s decision to grant a blanket pardon to all protesters, including those who engaged in violence during the Capitol riot, initially drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, who represents Laguna Woods in the House.
“It’s an insult to the law enforcement and police officers who work every day to protect our community and individuals like us,” Kim told the Hill in January. “Especially those (police) who work in the Capitol, we owe them a debt of gratitude for doing what they do.”
Since then Kim hasn’t issued any public statements about the pardons. When Kim’s office was contacted to comment for this story, a spokesperson referred back to the quote from January.
In early January, before Trump issued the pardon, Vice President JD Vance suggested any Jan. 6 clemency should not extend to people who committed violence. Since then, however, Vance has defended Trump’s decision, claiming the Jan. 6 defendants faced the “weight of a weaponized Department of Justice.”
The upcoming talk in Laguna Woods isn’t the first time a Jan. 6 convict has been celebrated as a patriot in Southern California. In January, Derek Kinnison of Lake Elsinore, who was sentenced to over two years in prison, received a hero’s welcome at a church in Temecula.
