Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker can’t keep January 6 rioters off the streets, but he can keep them out of state office buildings, he says.
On Thursday, Pritzker directed the state official responsible for staffing to include “any participation in the January 6 insurrection” as reason to bar an applicant from all state state jobs. The move, he said, is aimed at “protecting public safety," according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
“Our State workforce must reflect the values of Illinois and demonstrate honesty, integrity, and loyalty to serving the taxpayers. No one who attempts to overthrow a government should serve in government,” the governor said.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 rioters, including scores of violent offenders, including those convicted of assaulting police officers and engaging in seditious conspiracy. Experts say the pardons could also lead to an uptick in political violence; a handful of pardoned Jan. 6 convicts have already ended up back behind bars.
Though pardons do not expunge felony convictions automatically, Trump’s order would have made it possible for any of the at least 50 Illinoisans convicted of partaking in the riot to apply for state jobs.
Illinois is one of the few states that grants protections to job applicants with felony convictions. But Pritzker directed officials to classify J6ers’ actions as “infamous and disgraceful conduct,” barring them from government employment.
Pritzker previously blasted the pardons, stating that the rioters were “not political prisoners, heroes, or martyrs” but rather “assaulted law enforcement right before our eyes and put our democracy in peril."
