January 6 Rioter Luke Hoffman ‘Thankful’ for Trump Pardon, Defends Actions

Luke Hoffman, one of the nearly 1,500 January 6 rioters pardoned by Donald Trump, is feeling “thankful” following the executive order … and has no plans to apologize for his role in the attempted coup.

We caught up with Luke on “TMZ Live” Tuesday, less than a day after POTUS used his freshly restored executive powers to pardon his supporters who stormed the Capitol 4 years ago.

Luke — who pled guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the incident — says he is “very grateful” to get home to his family, with the hope of returning to his everyday life.

He does have a message for those who view him critically in the aftermath of the takeover attempt … telling us perspective is everything.

As he sees it … he was merely acting in self-defense of himself and his wife on January 6, declaring you had to be there to fully understand the situation.

He adds … “Things aren’t just as simple as a narrative that’s given. Things can happen in a certain way … I think things will come out in time.”

Luke says there are 2 sides to every story — though, he admits he can only speak from his own experience, as he doesn’t keep up with the other January 6 riot cases — and he says he doesn’t watch coverage or use social media.

Luke encourages critics to let January 6 rioters tell their own stories … and to not be swayed by what’s circulating online.