Isaac A. Thomas — a Flint resident— participated in the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol. After a presidential pardon, he is suing the federal government for $15.1 million in reparations.
Thomas was in New York City for New Year’s Eve when he decided to attend the riot taking place at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, certain members of the riot, including Thomas, attempted to storm the Capitol Building to prevent the ratification of the 2020 election results.
Following Jan. 6, Thomas was convicted on 12 counts, including trespassing and assaulting an officer. However, these charges were not followed up on for two years.
“About two weeks after January sixth, I was visited by the FBI,” Thomas said. “They met me at my house, told me that I would be charged with a misdemeanor, but then didn’t charge me. I didn’t hear from them for two years.”
Thomas alleges that in 2022, after he announced plans to run for Commissioner in Genesee County, the FBI reached out again with formal charges.
“A full two years after the protest, they told me to come in, I was being charged with trespassing.” Thomas said, “As they were walking me to the courtroom, I was handed papers that had 12 total charges, seven felonies and five misdemeanors.”
Thomas spent seven months in confinement in Washington, D.C., before the trial, from August to February of 2024. The FBI granted his bond in February, and Thomas went back to awaiting trial. In the months leading up to the 2024 election, Thomas alleges that the FBI offered him a plea deal that would knock down 11 of his 12 charges.
Thomas turned down the plea deal, and in February of 2025, a pardon was issued for all involved in the insurrection on Jan. 6. Thomas’ trial was thrown out with prejudice by the Department of Justice.
The Trump administration created an Anti-Weaponization Fund intended to reimburse costs and lost wages from 2021 onward for anyone involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection. However, this fund did not pass in Congress.
This led Thomas to sue the federal government in March of 2026, using a Standard Form 95, a general request for government compensation.
“We are requesting a few different things,” Thomas said. “Number one, for the time I was in jail. Of those 7 months, I spent 4 in solitary. We are suing for retaliation. We are also suing because the FBI withheld exculpatory evidence from us. Because of that, we were not allowed to use entrapment as a defense.”
Thomas is currently attending the pre-law program at the University of Michigan-Flint. He said he plans to use that degree to open an advocacy center in Flint for children in the foster care program.
“I want to be involved with child welfare,” Thomas said. “I want to have an advocacy center similar to Voices for Children.”
Voices for Children Advocacy Center is a child care center in Eastern Flint that offers therapy and provided Thomas with legal counsel following the events of Jan. 6th.
Thomas said the significance of the pardon is that it is only the first step in a lengthy process to get compensation.
“The pardons are good, but many of us are wondering what comes next,” Thomas said. “We want compensation. Many of us lost our homes. The response we’ve seen [after Jan. 6] was political. The pardon is a good first step, but we have a lot more to go.”
Maxwell Loxton is a writer for the Michigan Times he can be reached at mloxton@umich.edu.
