A Penn State alumnus has been pardoned by President Donald Trump in connection to his role in the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. Robert Morss, who graduated from Penn State in December 2020, was sentenced to 66 months in prison for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding, and robbery in May 2023.

According to a 2023 FBI release, Morss, wearing body armor plates and armed with a black knife sheath and scissors, fought with law enforcement on January 6. He attempted to steal a police-issued baton, removed a barrier between police and rioters, and took a riot shield from a detective. Morss entered the Capitol via a broken window.

After his release, Morss drove from a halfway house in Pennsylvania, from where he was released, to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the release of those still incarcerated for their January 6 crimes despite Trump’s pardon. He also celebrated his release via a Twitter post.

Wanna know how I know they are afraid of you?
IT WORKED!!!!!!!
God bless WE THE PEOPLE!!!!!!
FREE AT LAST!!!! pic.twitter.com/t7kw82AOjP

— AKATheLegoMan (@AKATheLegoMan) January 21, 2025

“It was an honor to do time in this regard,” Morss said in an interview from the nation’s capital. “As it says in the Bible, if you’re going to suffer, don’t do it because of a murderer or a thief. Do it because you’re a Christian.”

Morss was well-involved while at Penn State and an early supporter of Trump. He was the chairman of the Bull-Moose Party, which built a makeshift wall on Old Main Lawn in 2016.

“This is a friendly demonstration,” Morss then told Onward State. “What I want to do in this club is promote sense of quiet professionalism and fight the stigma that Trump supporters are a bunch of rowdy cavemen.”

Morss also danced in THON in 2018 and helped organized the Travis Manion Foundation’s annual State College 9/11 Heroes Run 5k the same year. Before his time at Penn State, Morss served as an Army Ranger.