Trump-Pardoned Jan. 6 Defendant Threatens Lawsuit If His Job Isn’t Reinstated At Kansas State University or Paid Back Pay Since He ‘Embarrassed’ the Government and Won His Case
A Jan. 6 insurrection defendant who was pardoned by President Donald Trump is now fighting to get his job back at Kansas State University with back pay years after school officials fired him.
William Pope is one of hundreds of people whose criminal cases connected to the deadly Capitol attack were dismissed last week. Since his charges were dropped, he reached out to Kansas State University to demand that he be reinstated to his former position as a graduate teaching assistant.
In his letter to the university’s president, Pope stated, “I WON MY CASE. There are now no felony or misdemeanor charges against me to prevent me from being employed by Kansas State University … and it’s time for the university to right this wrong.”
He added that if his old position is not currently available, then he’ll settle for four years of back pay and three years of future equivalent pay to cover his educational expenses as he completes his dissertation.
If the school doesn’t comply with either demand, Pope said that he is prepared to file a federal lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages alleging “wrongful termination” that “explicitly violated the Higher Education Act … which protects student speech and association rights.”
He also threatened to file a criminal complaint asking the Department of Justice to “investigate Kansas State University’s conspiracy with the FBI to deprive me of my rights.”
Pope, who ran for a Topeka City Council seat in 2019, was arrested in February 2021 after surrendering to federal authorities.
A U.S. Capitol police officer told the FBI that he encountered Pope on Jan. 6 after trying to block rioters from entering an east side entrance of the building, according to court documents cited by The Kansas City Star. Pope resisted the officer and then blocked authorities from closing the door so other people could storm the building.
Surveillance footage showed Pope and his brother standing outside the offices belonging to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That video showed Pope striking the office doors with a flagpole in an attempt to break in.
Both he and his brother were indicted. Pope was charged with two felonies and six misdemeanors and represented himself in his case. A judge dismissed one of his felony counts and two misdemeanors last year.
His jury trial was initially scheduled to start in December but was delayed until June 2, 2025. However, his entire case was dropped once Trump granted clemency to roughly 1,500 people convicted for the Capitol breach and directed the Attorney General to dismiss all pending cases.
In response to his letter, a K-State spokeswoman told The Star, “The university fully embraces applicable privacy regulations and additional information on this situation is not available to share.”
Pope also took to X to tap users sympathetic to his cause to share his mission and message the university’s account on his behalf.
“For almost four years, I put my Ph.D. program on hold to defend myself against January 6 charges. I embarrassed the government in court and won my case,” Pope wrote. “Now my goal is to complete my dissertation research by 2026, and graduate with a Ph.D. in Leadership Communication from Kansas State University.”
Larry Brock, and Air Force veteran who was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the Capitol attack posted that he supports Pope’s efforts to get his job back, stating that he “did nothing on January 6 but exercise his First Amendment rights and your doing the right thing would be a credit to KSU.”
Many others also encouraged Pope to battle on and called for the school to reinstate him, arguing that his termination was premature.
“K-State – As a KS resident, I respectfully request that you return this former KSU instructor to his teaching position,” one person wrote. “He was apparently prematurely fired based upon charges stemming from overzealous prosecution of First Amendment activity. He was not found guilty of any crime.”
Others weren’t convinced by Pope’s argument.
“Let me get this straight,” posted Kevin Ross. “So you took part in a riot where people broke into the capital building in order to overturn the election and got fired for it. Now you’re suing the college for firing you for your felony? Good luck with that.”
Some had trouble believing Pope “won” his case when it was merely dismissed due to Trump’s executive order.
“I guess being pardoned is one way to ‘win your case,’” someone else commented.
