NOTE: This is fiction
During the first week of his second term as President, Donald Trump pardoned over 1,500 people who were convicted and imprisoned for crimes related to the January 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol to disrupt Congressional deliberations certifying President Biden’s election win. Many of those who invaded the Capitol building claimed that they took action on behalf of Trump, who repeatedly lied and told his supporters that the election was somehow stolen because of widespread voter fraud.
Upon their release from prison, some of those pardoned by Trump declared they would actively support him in whatever way they could. One supporter even told reporters he “would die for him.”
By March 2025, local police officers in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. discovered the existence of a paramilitary group devoted to serving President Trump. Members of the group dubbed the “MAGA-men” were formerly incarcerated people pardoned by Trump for the January 6, 2021 insurrection in the nation’s capital city.
Officers received a call from a resident who told them a group of suspicious-looking men congregated in a local park. “Look,” the caller said, I know it’s not against the law to stand around in a public space, but these guys are all wearing black clothes and their faces are covered. Also, they all have stun guns just like the one I bought online for my wife last year.”
A few minutes later a couple of officers in a patrol car arrived and parked their car.
“Do you see them?” one officer said, “This looks off. I’m gonna call the precinct and leave my phone on, just in case these people have a scanner.”
They got out and approached the men.
“Hey fellas, what’s goin’ on?” one of the police officers asked.
“None of your business, cop,” one of the men said. “We ain’t doing anything illegal.”
The officers looked at each other, their expressions meaning get ready for anything.
One of the officers said, “Man, why don’t you relax? No one is accusing you of anything, but we got a call from a concerned citizen about you all. As far as I’m concerned, you can stand around all you want, but why do you have so many stun guns?”
Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a scream. The officers saw a man fall out of a tree, along with a large olive-green duffel bag. The officers then heard the crackling sound of several stun guns turning on.
The two officers turned and drew their service weapons. They warned the men to step back and drop their stun guns. Most of them complied, but one of them charged at the officers. The officer aimed and shot him in the foot. Less than a minute later, the park swarmed with police.
Laughing, one of the officers said, “Sanchez? The foot? You shot that jackass in the foot!”
“Yeah, well, did you notice all those guys had on bulletproof vests? I thought about shooting him in the nuts, but hey, cruel and unusual punishment, right? And lawsuits too. Anyway, he’ll live.”
The men who were all dressed in black sat on the ground with their hands handcuffed behind them. The guy who fell out of the tree lay on a gurney with a splint on his broken leg. Another officer handcuffed him to the gurney and rode to the hospital with him in the ambulance.
The duffel bag contained several semi-automatic rifles and pistols, all of which had suppressors attached to their barrels. The FBI arrived and took charge of the investigation.
Later that week, FBI agents held a briefing for the police officers involved with the incident at the park. They told the officers that the MAGA-men, as they called themselves, planned to assassinate several members of Congress. Surprisingly, their hit list included both Democrats and Republicans. They acted on the misguided assumption that their allegiance to Trump protected them from facing the legal consequences of their actions.
All the MAGA-men were charged with assorted weapons violations, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to murder elected officials, and other offenses. They faced both federal and state charges.
Given the inflammatory nature of the charges and the political environment of the day, the judge issued a gag order. The jury found the MAGA-men guilty of all charges, and all were sentenced to several years in prison. During sentencing, one of them told the judge, “You can’t hurt me, ‘cause Trump will save us and give us a pardon anyway. We’re just carrying out his will for the country.” Predictably, when Trump learned of the so-called MAGA-men case, he claimed to know nothing about them. When he learned that the conspiracy targeted a few Republicans, he refused to pardon them.