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A Jan 6 rioter convicted of assaulting police scored a visit to the White House
Shane Jenkins, seen here in police bodycam footage from Jan. 6, 2021, was convicted of multiple charges in connection with the Capitol riot, including assaulting police. Months after receiving a pardon from President Trump, Jenkins visited the White House along with another former Jan. 6 defendant.
U.S. Department of Justice
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U.S. Department of Justice
Just months after being freed through a pardon from President Trump, two men convicted of felonies for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol scored visits to the secure grounds of the White House.
During their visit, the men took turns posing for pictures and videos behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room.
“Thank you so much President Trump, if you’re seeing this, we appreciate you setting us free,” said Shane Jenkins, in a video he posted on social media.
Jenkins, who had a criminal record before Jan. 6, was sentenced to seven years in prison for assaulting police protecting the Capitol and using a metal tomahawk to try to smash a window. The day after the attack, Jenkins wrote in a text message, “I have murder in my heart and my head.”
“Never would have thought in only a few short months I would be going from the big house to the White House,” said another pardoned Jan. 6 defendant, Dominic Box, who also recorded a video from the briefing room.
Dominic Box appeared exuberant as he recorded videos for social media in the White House press briefing room this month. Box was convicted of felony civil disorder and other nonviolent misdemeanors in connection with Jan. 6. His case was dismissed by the Justice Department before he was sentenced.
Screenshot by NPR/@DomFreePress
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Screenshot by NPR/@DomFreePress
Box was convicted of felony civil disorder and nonviolent misdemeanor charges related to the Capitol breach. He had not yet been sentenced when Trump returned to office and issued mass clemency to all Jan. 6 defendants, including the most violent offenders. Separately, in 2023, Box was arrested in Florida on a DUI charge. According to the police report, while in the back of the squad car, Box used “various racial slurs,” including the n-word. In a message to NPR, Box said , “I am not racist,” and noted that he did not use “the hard r” when he said the n-word.
The circumstances of the visit to the White House were somewhat murky.
“An individual within the Trump Administration extended the invitation,” Box told NPR, “but I am not at liberty to disclose their identity.”
In a message to NPR, Jenkins said he was also “not at liberty to discuss” how the tour was arranged, adding, “but of course J6 Hostages were wronged and will be welcomed to the White House.”
The two men said that, in addition to the press briefing room, they saw the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room, though they did not post any videos or photos of those areas.
The White House did not respond to NPR’s messages seeking comment.
Since taking office, Trump has continued to embrace Jan. 6 defendants as “political prisoners.”
“I pardoned J6 people who were assaulted by our government,” Trump told reporters in February. The Department of Justice estimated that 140 police officers were injured in the attack.
The Trump administration is also currently negotiating a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Ashli Babbitt, the rioter who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer while trying to climb through a broken window.
Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger condemned the news of the pending settlement.
“I am extremely disappointed and disagree with this settlement,” Manger said in a written statement. “In 2021, the DOJ investigation determined no wrongdoing by police. This settlement sends a chilling message to law enforcement nationwide, especially to those with a protective mission like ours.”
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys, also said he briefly met with Trump while visiting the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month. Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 attack and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
According to Tarrio, Trump called him over while he was dining at the resort.
“I thanked him for giving me my life back,” Tarrio wrote on social media. “He replied with…I Love You guys.”
There is no indication that Jenkins or Box met with Trump when they visited White House. (Trump spent most of the day at his golf club in Virginia, according to his public schedule.) Both men have declined to disclose the precise details of their visit.
“Thank you to our friend, who shall go unnamed, for giving us that opportunity,” Box said on a video live stream.
The visit occurred on a Sunday – outside of the regular public tour schedule, which typically runs from Tuesday through Saturday, according to the White House website. In a break with the Biden administration, the Trump White House has stopped releasing visitor logs.
Jenkins, who also had a criminal record before Jan. 6, smiled and posed for photos and videos behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room. Months earlier, he was serving a seven-year prison sentence for his actions during the Capitol riot.
Screenshot by NPR/TheRealJ6Shane
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Screenshot by NPR/TheRealJ6Shane
Jenkins’ appearance at the White House was especially striking given his convictions for assaulting police on Jan. 6, and his extensive criminal record, which stretches back to the late 1990s.
“I was in and out of prison from 23 on,” Jenkins said at his sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors said Jenkins assaulted police officers on Jan. 6 using nine different objects, including “a flagpole, a metal walking stick, and a broken wooden pole with a spear-like point on one end which he launched like a javelin.” At his trial, prosecutors pointed out his large neck tattoo reading “MAMA TRIED.”
In his defense, Jenkins’ lawyer said he was a victim of “the poisonous propaganda of a former president.”
“[Trump] cares nothing about his supporters, nor anyone else,” defense attorney Dennis Boyle said in closing arguments. “To him they’re just cannonfodders [sic] to serve his needs and his needs alone.”
Jenkins told NPR he disagrees with his lawyer’s remarks. He maintains that he did not injure any police officers on Jan. 6, and said his actions were justified.
“We were standing not for Trump but in opposition to a stolen election,” Jenkins said in a message. “It was my duty as a citizen to object. In the process we were assaulted and responded in kind.”
“I’m thankful no one was hurt by what I did but am I sorry, f[***] no!” he wrote.
Jenkins’ legal troubles began long before Jan. 6. According to court documents filed by the Department of Justice, he had prior convictions for assault, resisting arrest, drug possession, making a “terroristic threat” and driving while intoxicated.
When he was 20 years old, Jenkins shot and killed his stepfather. At his sentencing, he testified that he acted in self defense and murder charges against him were ultimately dropped.
Like Jenkins, Box has also faced criminal charges unrelated to Jan. 6.
In Aug. 2023, while awaiting trial for his Capitol riot case, Box was arrested in Florida for driving under the influence. According to the police report, a witness saw Box back into a pole and pass out. When officers arrived, they found Box slurring his speech, along with an open can of Natural Light beer and a bottle of Skol vodka in the car.
NPR asked Box about the allegation that he used “various racial slurs” after the arrest.
“At one point, in an admittedly & regrettably intoxicated state after being woken up while in the back of the squad car I said, ‘what’s up n[****]?’” Box wrote. “I am not a racist, have dated women of all racial backgrounds & the majority of my friends in both Jacksonville & Savannah are black.”
Following the DUI arrest, Box was jailed for violating the terms of his pretrial supervision orders in the Jan. 6 case. He later pleaded no contest to the Florida DUI charge, and said he is “actively working a program of recovery” from substance abuse.
In a statement to NPR, the Secret Service said it followed standard protocol when they allowed Jenkins and Box to enter the White House.
“Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Box were subject to a rigorous security screening prior to their entry being approved,” the agency wrote. “In all cases, the U.S. Secret Service works in conjunction with White House staff to review pertinent visitor information and develop plans to ensure a safe and secure visit for all.”
“Secret Service knew who we were and they were cool,” Box said in a livestream video. “They weren’t looking at us like we were suspicious.”
Trump was listed as a passenger on eight flights on Epstein’s private jet, according to emailpublished at 11:58 GMT
Anthony Reuben
BBC Verify senior journalist
One of the Epstein documents, external is an email saying that “Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware)”.
The email was sent on 7 January 2020 and is part of an email chain which includes the subject heading ‘RE: Epstein flight records’.
The sender and recipient are redacted but at the bottom of the email is a signature for an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York – with the name redacted.
The email states: “He is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present. He is listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric”.
“On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old” – with the person’s name redacted.
It goes on: “On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case”.
In 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison, external for crimes including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and sex trafficking of a minor.
Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but the president has said they fell out in about 2004, years before Epstein was first arrested. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and his presence on the flights does not indicate wrongdoing.
We have contacted the White House for a response to this particular file.
Dr. Tyler Jorgensen sets “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on a record player at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin Texas. He uses vinyl records as a form of music therapy for palliative care patients.
Lorianne Willett/KUT News
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Lorianne Willett/KUT News
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Lying in her bed at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin, 64-year-old Pamela Mansfield sways her feet to the rhythm of George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care.” Mansfield is still recovering much of her mobility after a recent neck surgery, but she finds a way to move to the music floating from a record player that was wheeled into her room.
“Seems to be the worst part is the stiffness in my ankles and the no feeling in the hands,” she says. “But music makes everything better.”
The record player is courtesy of the ATX-VINyL program, a project dreamed up by Dr. Tyler Jorgensen to bring music to the bedside of patients dealing with difficult diagnoses and treatments. He collaborates with a team of volunteers who wheel the player on a cart to patients’ rooms, along with a selection of records in their favorite genres.
“I think of this record player as a time machine,” he said. “You know, something starts spinning — an old, familiar song on a record player — and now you’re back at home, you’re out of the hospital, you’re with your family, you’re with your loved ones.”
Daniela Vargas, a volunteer for the ATX-VINyL program, wheels a record player to the hospital room of a palliative care patient in Austin, Texas.
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Lorianne Willett/KUT News
The healing power of Country music… and Thin Lizzy
Mansfield wanted to hear country music: Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, George Jones. That genre reminds her of listening to records with her parents, who helped form her taste in music. Almost as soon as the first record spins, she starts cracking jokes.
“I have great taste in music. Men, on the other hand … ehhh. I think my picker’s broken,” she says.
Other patients ask for jazz, R&B or holiday records.
The man who gave Jorgensen the idea for ATX-VINyL loved classic rock. That was around three years ago, when Jorgensen, a long-time emergency medicine physician, began a fellowship in palliative care — a specialty aimed at improving quality of life for people with serious conditions, including terminal illnesses.
Shortly after he began the fellowship, he says he struggled to connect with a particular patient.
“I couldn’t draw this man out, and I felt like he was really struggling and suffering,” Jorgensen said.
He had the idea to try playing the patient some music.
He went with “The Boys Are Back in Town,” by the 1970s Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, and saw an immediate change in the patient.
“He was telling me old stories about his life. He was getting more honest and vulnerable about the health challenges he was facing,” Jorgensen said. “And it just struck me that all this time I’ve been practicing medicine, there’s such a powerful tool that is almost universal to the human experience, which is music, and I’ve never tapped into it.”
Dr. Tyler Jorgensen plays vinyl records as a form of music therapy for palliative care patients in Austin, Texas. Willie Nelson’s albums are a perennial hit.
Lorianne Willett/KUT News
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Lorianne Willett/KUT News
Creating new memories
Jorgensen realized records could lift the spirits of patients dealing with heavy circumstances in hospital spaces that are often aesthetically bare. And he thought vinyl would offer a more personal touch than streaming a digital track through a smartphone or speaker.
“There’s just something inherently warm about the friction of a record — the pops, the scratches,” he said. “It sort of resonates through the wooden record player, and it just feels different.”
Since then, he has built up a collection of 60 records and counting at the hospital. The most-requested album, by a landslide, is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours from 1977. Willie is also popular, along with Etta James and John Denver. And around the holidays, the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas gets a lot of spins.
These days, it’s often a volunteer who rolls the record player from room to room after consulting nursing staff about patients and family members who are struggling and could use a visit.
Daniela Vargas, the UT Austin pre-med undergraduate who heads up the volunteer cohort, became passionate about music therapy years ago when she and her sister began playing violin for isolated patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she sees similar benefits when she curates a collection of records for a patient today.
“We are usually not in the room for the entire time, so it’s a more intimate experience for the patient or family, but being able to interact with the patient in the beginning and at the end can be really transformative,” Vargas said.
Often, the palliative care patients visited by ATX-VINyL are near the end of life.
Jorgensen feels that the record player provides an interruption of the heaviness those patients and their families are experiencing. Suddenly, it’s possible to create a new, positive shared experience at a profoundly difficult time.
“Now you’re sort of looking at it together and thinking, ‘What are we going to do with this thing? Let’s play something for Mom, let’s play something for Dad.’” he said. “And you are creating a new, positive, shared experience in the setting of something that can otherwise be very sad, very heavy.”
Other patients, like Pamela Mansfield, are working painstakingly toward recovery.
She has had six neck surgeries since April, when she had a serious fall. But on the day she listened to the George Jones album, she had a small victory to celebrate: She stood up for three minutes, a record since her most recent surgery.
With the record spinning, she couldn’t help but think about the victories she’s still pursuing.
“It’s motivating,” she said. “Me and my broom could dance really well to some of this stuff.”
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‘Music makes everything better’: A Texas doctor spins vinyl to give patients relief
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