Ex-Miami GOP executive pardoned in Jan. 6 attacks, three weeks before going to prison
Just hours after Donald Trump took his presidential oath, Gabriel Garcia took a pair of scissors and cut off his ankle monitor at a private inauguration party at Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine in Doral.
Garcia, 44, a Miami Proud Boy who was a member of the Miami-Dade GOP’s Executive Committee, was one of the first people in Florida to be arrested for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol following Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
In December, he was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution costs after being found guilty of two felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding, and interference with law enforcement during a civil disorder.
He was due to report to prison on Feb. 7.
READ MORE: Ex-Proud Boy from Miami is sent to prison for role in Jan. 6 assault on U.S. Capitol
But on Monday, Garcia’s attorney called him with the news that his legal battle was over: On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order pardoning him and more than 1,300 people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Thank God, it put an end to this nightmare,” Garcia said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. “I never went in there to hurt anybody. I didn’t destroy property, didn’t break anything.”
The bipartisan House Select Committee found the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol an “attempted insurrection.”
Out of 1,583 people charged federally with crimes related to the attack, 608 people were charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents,” including 178 charged with using a deadly weapon or causing an officer serious harm.
One officer assaulted by rioters died the next day after suffering two strokes. Four police officers died by suicide and another 140 were injured.
Trump also commuted the sentences of 14 people convicted of seditious conspiracy or other charges, including Elmer Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, who was sentenced in 2023 to 18 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“So this is January 6th, and these are the hostages,” Trump said, as he signed an executive order undoing the Justice Department’s convictions on Monday. “We hope they come out tonight, frankly.”
Awaits release of Jan. 6 prisoners
Garcia said 13 were released at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday from the Coleman federal prison in Wildwood in central Florida, where he and a group of supporters were waiting to greet them.
Coleman officials did not respond to Herald requests to confirm the number released, and a spokesperson for the Bureau of Federal Prisons said the office was unable to confirm the number of individuals released at Coleman or nationwide.
Garcia drove a four and half hours to be at the prison and drove one of the recently released back to Miami.
“Welcome home heroes,” Garcia yelled as the group exited the doors of the prison. “Promises made, promises kept.”
The day before the Jan. 6 attack, Garcia took a flight from Miami to the Capitol. He said he “wanted to hear Trump speak one last time,” and was there supporting Ted Cruz’s proposal to investigate voter fraud.
Born in New Jersey, Garcia moved to Miami as a child and studied at the University of Florida before joining the U.S. Army. In 2017, he finished 15 years in the Army – the former U.S. Army captain was stationed in Iraq and South Korea – and joined the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group.
Member of Miami GOP executive committee
While he was a member of the Proud Boys, Garcia served on the Miami-Dade Republican Party’s Executive Committee from 2020 to 2023. He also ran unsuccessfully ran against state Rep. Daniel Perez in 2020. He chose to leave the Committee in 2023 after he was placed on house arrest, Garcia said.
The Proud Boys gained national attention during the 2020 presidential debate, when Trump was asked by the moderator if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups. “What do you want to call them? Give me a name,” Trump responded. “Proud Boys,” answered then-Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate running against Trump.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said.
Multiple members of the Proud Boys were convicted of sedition related to Jan. 6, including the group’s former chairman, Miami-native Enrique Tarrio, who was also pardoned by Trump.
Garcia said he had dropped his affiliation with the Proud Boys while facing legal charges, but after the pardon, now describes himself as a member. He said in his interview with the Herald he “didn’t want to be judged for being a Proud Boy” and thought members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers were getting the “harshest” sentences.
During the attack on the Capitol, Garcia live-streamed himself entering the building on Facebook, calling officers traitors, and taunting Nancy Pelosi to “come out and play,” according to the FBI. He was in a Telegram group-chat for the Proud Boys’ so-called Ministry of Self Defense, a group where members discussed the potential for violence at the Capitol, the FBI said.
‘Stack those bodies in front of Capitol Hill’
On Jan. 3, 2021, Garcia sent a message in the Telegram chat saying “time to stack those bodies in front of Capitol Hill,” according to the FBI. Garcia said the messages in the chat were “locker-talk.”
“We just went ahead and stormed the Capitol,” he said in his Jan. 6 live-stream, the FBI found, and asked officers, “How does it feel being a traitor to the country?”
He doesn’t contest calling officers traitors and said he was only referring to two officers pointing guns at the crowd. He said he didn’t plan ahead of time to enter the building. He said he just followed the crowd, thinking he’d maybe get arrested for trespassing. He also doesn’t contest yelling for a “Nancy,” but disputes he meant Pelosi.
“I wasn’t there to overturn elections, steal anybody’s vote,” he said.
He said he agrees with a case-by-case review of the incidents from that day, but believes the pardons were justified.
“I can’t speak for everyone else’s case,” he said, “but if you look at the cases, and Trump obviously has his team to look over these cases, if he found wrongdoing or agitators, then yeah, I agree they shouldn’t be pardoned.”
Looking back, would he do anything differently?
“Absolutely nothing different,” Garcia said. “I would keep the same composure and do it all over again.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM.
