Trump Pardoned Him. Then He Sent Four People to the Hospital.
Robert Keith Packer became one of the most recognizable faces of January 6th the moment he walked through the doors of the United States Capitol wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt. The hoodie read “Work Brings Freedom” on the front, a translation of the slogan posted above the gates of the Nazi death camp, with “STAFF” printed on the back.
Trump pardoned him anyway. Along with roughly 1,500 other January 6th defendants, Packer walked free with a clean slate.
Within months, four people were in the hospital because of him.
Who Robert Keith Packer Is
Before January 6th made him infamous, Packer had already compiled a 25-year criminal record. Federal prosecutors described him as a habitual offender with 21 convictions, including drunk driving, larceny, drug possession, and forgery. He was a former pipefitter and unlicensed plumber from Newport News, Virginia.
At the Capitol, he spent 36 minutes inside the building. When the FBI asked him about the sweatshirt, he said he wore it because he was cold. Underneath it, he was wearing a shirt referencing the SS, Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary unit. Authorities who searched his home found swastika artwork and an image of Hitler.
He was convicted of one misdemeanor count of demonstrating inside the Capitol and sentenced to 75 days in prison.
Then Trump pardoned him.
What Happened Next
In September 2025, Packer’s dogs attacked four people in Newport News. All four were hospitalized and required surgery.
Newport News authorities arrested Packer and charged him with one felony count of animal attack resulting from an owner’s disregard for human life, a charge that carries up to five years in prison. He also faces misdemeanor charges for the dogs attacking while at large and for having no city license. Civil charges were filed separately.
When authorities went to his property, they seized one adult dog, six eleven-week-old puppies, four live rabbits, and one deceased rabbit.
That was not the end of it. At the time of the September attack, Packer already had charges pending from a separate dog attack that had occurred in May.
The Pardon That Made It Possible
Packer did not emerge from January 6th as a changed man with a second chance. He emerged from it as a man with a violent history, a pardoned federal conviction, and dogs that sent his neighbors to the operating room.
Trump’s mass pardon of January 6th defendants was sold to the public as an act of justice for people who had been treated unfairly by the system. Packer is what that argument looks like in practice. A man with 21 prior convictions, who stormed the Capitol in Nazi memorabilia, was handed a clean record and sent back into his community.
Four of his neighbors paid the price for that decision with their bodies.
The people who were attacked in Newport News did not storm any buildings. They did not wear any sweatshirts. They were simply in the wrong place when a man the President of the United States personally chose to pardon lost control of his animals.
Trump called January 6th defendants hostages. He called their release justice.
The four people who needed surgery after Packer’s dogs were done with them have a different word for it.