Just before debating Democrat candidate Joe Biden last week, President Trump pardoned an Indiana man who was serving life in prison for a non-violent crime, Faithwire reports.
President Trump pardoned Charles Duke Tanner because his life imprisonment sentence was a non-violent, first offense drug charge.
Tanner was imprisoned under Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden’s 1994 crime bill which landed millions of Black Americans in the prison system.
In a video uploaded to Twitter, Tanner thanked President Trump and credited God with his pardon.
“First and foremost, I wanna give all the praise and glory to God,” he said in the video. “Thank you for hearing me. But President Trump, I just want to thank you for giving me a second chance and believing in me and reading my petition. I’m just so thankful.”
The video was uploaded to Twitter and tweeted by Alex Bruesewitz, a conservative advisor to politicians, foundations and organizations.
Yesterday @realDonaldTrump granted Duke Tanner clemency after 16 years in prison
He was sentenced to LIFE in prison for a FIRST time, NON VIOLENT crime because of Joe Biden’s crime bill
God bless you & good luck with your SECOND CHANCE
Let’s make his POWERFUL message go viral! pic.twitter.com/PrS6JbJz5w
— Alex Bruesewitz (@alexbruesewitz) October 22, 2020
In the video, the former prisoner says that the pardon allowed him to be reunited with his son, whom he was forced to leave when he was just two years old because of his prison sentence. He also expressed gratitude at the ability to see his parents again.
According to Tanner, President Trump read his letter asking for a pardon and then pardoned him. He repeatedly thanked the Trump Administration, President Trump, and God in his statement.
This isn’t the first time President Trump has worked to release men and women from prison. After consulting with Kanye West and others, Trump implemented far-reaching prison reforms that worked to upend the deep-seated racism in the prison system. Dubbed the “First Step Act,” the Bureau of Prisons outlines how it removed policies such as using restraints on pregnant inmates and required correctional officers to undergo better de-escalation training so fewer incidents would occur.
President Trump also designated the KKK a terror organization and pledged to provide $500 billion of relief funding to Black American communities.
Photo courtesy: Pixabay
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Daily Fodder, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
