Former Jan. 6 defendant pardoned by Trump now charged with kidnapping and sexual assault

A man who President Trump pardoned after he allegedly fired a gun during the Jan. 6, 2021 US Capitol riot was arrested last month for allegedly brutally attacking a woman three years before the attempted siege, according to authorities.

John Banuelos, 40, from Utah, was arrested on Oct. 17 while pulling out of a fast-food restaurant in a rideshare car in Chicago, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced in a statement posted to social media on Friday.

A warrant had been issued for Banuelos in Salt Lake City on Oct. 1 for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault, cops said.

Banuelos had allegedly attacked a woman in the Salt Lake City area in June 2018, three years before he was accused of being involved in the Jan. 6 riot, according to court records obtained by CBS. 

He invited the victim, referred to in filings by “S.J.” to his home under the guise of throwing a bogus party. He then allegedly beat her after she entered his house, the charging documents cited by the outlet said.

Banuelos “hit her in the face and told her he was going to kill her. Banuelos then grabbed her by the shirt and dropped her on the floor, causing her to hit her head,” the documents read.

He allegedly sexually accosted the woman, aggressively kissing her and punching her in the head, the outlet reported.

Banuelos became enraged after the woman punched him back and “grabbed her shorts, pulled them off, and threw her, causing her whole body to fly in the air,” the filing alleged.

Banuelos then strangled the victim, applying “a pressure of ’10 out of 10′ for a couple of seconds,” the document claimed.

The woman told investigators she thought she was “gonna die” during the horrific alleged attack.

“Banuelos was charged last year for the Jan. 6, 2021 shooting,” the Cook County Sheriff’s Department said.

But his case was dismissed following Trump’s order to pardon over 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

Banuelos was the only rioter accused of pulling and firing a gun at the “Stop the Steal” rally while on Capitol grounds, CBS reported.

At around 2:23 p.m. on the day of the riot, Banuelos was captured on CCTV footage scaling the southwest Inaugural stage scaffolding, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia alleged in a March 2024 statement.

He was then seen waving at the crowd before pulling a firearm out from his waistband, prosecutors said.

A minute later, he raised the gun over his head and fired two shots in the air before climbing down the scaffolding to join the mob below, court documents alleged.

No injuries were reported in the shooting, police said.

Banuelos had faced a slew of felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident before Trump granted him clemency.

“No pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened on January 6, 2021,” Judge Tanya Chutkan said at the January hearing to dismiss the pending case against Banuelos.

He remains in custody at Cook County Jail for the alleged assault, authorities said.