Victim of Jan. 6 defendant’s past crime fears for her safety after pardons

When President Trump issued sweeping pardons to some 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office, his action did not distinguish between those who peacefully wandered the Capitol grounds four years earlier and those who engaged in violence against police.

Now, critics of the move are raising concerns about the dangers posed by some of those convicted of violent felonies who have been released with no plan, and none of the monitoring or restrictions that typically accompany a more traditional parole process. 

“I’m just afraid that I’m going to come home from work one night and he’s going to be right there. He’s going to be right there sitting on my porch,” said Shantelle Holeton, a 43-year-old factory worker who says she voted for Trump three times. 

Holeton, who spoke with CBS exclusively, said she was abused by Jan. 6 defendant Peter Schwartz in 2019. He was charged and convicted for threatening her.

Then in 2023, a federal judge handed Schwartz one of the longest sentences of any Capitol riot defendant — more than 14 years in prison on charges that included four counts of assaulting police officers. 

Body camera footage from Capitol Hill police during the riot show Schwartz spraying officers with pepper spray and wielding a baton. In court filings, the Department of Justice said he threw the first chair at officers, creating an opening that enabled hundreds of rioters to push back police lines. 

Federal prosecutors described Schwartz as “one of the most violent and aggressive participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol,” and as someone who “has a long history of assaulting police officers and women.”

Prior to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Schwartz had amassed a lengthy criminal record that included previous clashes with police. CBS News reviewed dozens of Schwartz’ convictions in more than four states for crimes including domestic violence, threatening his girlfriend, and assaulting security officers. 

CBS News made repeated efforts to contact Schwartz through his defense lawyer, known associates and family members. He did not respond to requests for comment.  He has appeared in public proclaiming his innocence from the charges that led to his Jan. 6 conviction. 

“A lot of us that were Jan. Sixers were actually innocent,” Schwartz claimed in an interview with right-wing influencer Christopher Key, days after being released from prison. 

Speaking about the mass pardons of Jan 6 rioters during a press conference on Air Force One last week, President Trump said, “what I did was a great thing for humanity. They were treated very, very unfairly.”

The White House would not say whether anyone had reviewed Schwartz’s case before issuing him a pardon. 

“President Trump campaigned on pardoning January 6th protestors, won the election with an overwhelming mandate, and delivered on his promise,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement to CBS News. 

Dozens of defendants with criminal histories

Since Trump’s mass pardon on Jan. 20, several defendants have had incidents with law enforcement or other legal troubles. Matthew Huttle, who was sentenced to six months in prison for his actions at the Capitol, was killed by a police officer while resisting arrest during a traffic stop in Indiana last month. Elizabeth Hernandez, sentenced to 30 days in federal prison for her role in Jan. 6, was recently handed a 10-year prison sentence for a fatal DUI in Missouri in 2022. 

There are no reports that Schwartz has re-offended in the weeks since his release.

Shortly before Schwartz was pardoned, an appeals court reversed only one of the 11 charges against him, and none of the assault charges. Schwartz has been citing the appeals court decision as proof of his innocence while appearing on right-wing media shows. 

Schwartz is not the only Jan. 6 defendant with an extensive criminal history. A CBS News analysis of hundreds of sentencing documents found that at least 159 of pardoned Jan. 6 defendants had criminal records prior to that day. That includes at least 41 people who had been convicted of at least one violent crime prior to their actions on Jan. 6.

“There were a lot of folks who had no criminal history,” said Jason Manning, a former federal prosecutor involved in more than 50 Jan. 6-related cases. 

“There were a lot of other defendants, however, who had extensive histories of domestic abuse, histories of assaulting police officers for whom assaulting the police on January 6th was not the first time they had assaulted police.”

Allegations of domestic violence, threats

Holeton says she met Schwartz on Facebook in 2019 and moved in with him in Owensboro, Kentucky, after several months of dating long distance. She says it was perfect for two weeks, and then things changed. 

“I made a comment about how tall the corn had gotten in a week. We lived right across from a cornfield, and that comment started the argument that got me beat up,” Holeton said. 

Holeton alleges Schwartz beat her. She says the violence persisted until she called the police in July 2019 when she alleged Schwartz was threatening to kill her and her son. Photos taken by the Kentucky State Police, and reviewed by CBS News, show numerous firearms belonging to Schwartz found on the property. Schwartz was eventually charged and convicted for “terroristic threatening” and possessing a handgun. 

Even when Schwartz was in prison, Holeton said she was afraid. 

“I walked around the house with a big butcher knife, because I was afraid that they were just gonna let him out and he was just gonna show up,” she said.

According to a 2015 incident report, Schwartz also threatened police, reportedly telling an officer in Owensboro, “I am going to shoot you right in the head.”

In another police report from 2020, Schwartz’s then girlfriend, Shelly Stallings, alleged Schwartz bit her forehead and then continued to punch her in the head. In police bodycam footage, reviewed by CBS News, Stallings can be heard saying, “I locked him out because I couldn’t control him, I don’t want to be beat up. … He just gets violent.” Schwartz was later convicted of domestic violence. 

Holeton was not surprised when she heard Schwartz had been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

“He found an opportunity to go and be violent,” she said. “That man thrives on violence. He thrives on people fearing him.”

Two years later, when Holeton heard that Schwartz would be in prison for more than a decade, she said she felt a huge weight had been lifted. She took to TikTok and Facebook to share an old photo of her battered face and a screenshot of Schwartz’s sentencing, with the caption, “whether you agree with the J6 prisoners or not, myself and all the other women he beat on finally got some justice.”

“I was like, oh, well, at least I don’t have to worry about him just showing up at my house for the next 14 years,” said Holeton, who did not want to share her specific location out of concern for her safety. 

“He is not a hero”

Holeton, a registered Democrat, said she has voted for President Trump in the past three elections. She said she decided to vote for him in 2024 because she thought he would improve the economy, and she believed his administration would only pardon Jan. 6 defendants on a case-by-case basis.

In an interview on Fox News in early January, Vice President-elect JD Vance said those who protested peacefully should be pardoned, but he made an exception for rioters who engaged in violence.

“If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” he said. But Vance later told CBS News he supported the president’s action, saying it “rectified a wrong.”

Holeton believes, “Most of those people should have been allowed to go home, but not people like Pete.”

“The idea of pardoning people who had criminal histories, violent histories, it’s a really poor choice if you’re thinking about public safety going forward,” said Manning.

An online fundraiser for Schwartz has raised nearly $90,000 from supporters in the past two years.

“Pete is not the person that everybody thinks he is,” said Holeton. “Everyone is hailing him as a hero and he is not a hero. He is a violent, violent man.”

Jim Axelrod

Jim Axelrod is the chief correspondent and executive editor for CBS News’ “Eye on America” franchise, part of the “CBS Evening News.” He also reports for “CBS Mornings,” “CBS News Sunday Morning,” and CBS News 24/7.