Fr. Fidelis Moscinski being arrested by White Plains Police at a Clinic in 2021
DOJ photos of William Joseph Pepe in the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
On January 23, President Donald Trump pardoned two men with ties to Westchester. Fr.
Fidelis Moscinski was pardoned for his arrest and for violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinics (FACE) Act.
In 2021, Moscinski was arrested in White Plains for illegal trespass when he and two others remained inside a Women’s Health Center for two hours. Former DA Mimi Rocah prosecuted the men, and Moscinski was sentenced to 90 days.
After his release, Moscinski was arrested days later on Long Island for a similar protest at a Long Island clinic. For the Long Island case, the US Attorney charged Moscinski with a Federal crime: violating the FACE Act. He was found guilty in 2023 and served 90 days in 2024.
Trump pardoned Moscinski on January 23 for the federal crime. “They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. This is a great honor to sign this,” said President Trump.
Moscinski, a member of the Franciscan Fathers, stated, “The pardons corrected the injustice of our prosecutions and incarceration, but the daily and horrific injustice of abortion continues. And it must be stopped.”
The Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based public interest law firm, had submitted formal requests to pardon 21 pro-life activists convicted under the FACE Act. “We represent peaceful pro-life Americans, some of whom were unjustly imprisoned and others unjustly convicted by the Biden Department of Justice for demonstrating at abortion facilities.
“While Biden’s prosecutors almost entirely ignored the firebombing and vandalism of hundreds of pro-life churches and pregnancy centers, they viciously pursued pro-life Americans, obtaining convictions against them under the federal “FACE Act.”
“But these individuals participated in mere peaceable civil disobedience, in the heralded tradition of the American Civil Rights activists. Peaceable actions like these usually merit, at worst, a minor misdemeanor conviction.
“We are hopeful that the second Trump administration will spell a new day for pro-life advocates who have faced FBI raids, federal prosecutions, and severe punishment for peacefully and courageously witnessing for life,” added Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation.
“By acting on the requested presidential pardons, President Trump has a golden opportunity to not only stop the lawfare against peaceful pro-lifers but also to undo some of the unprecedented damage of the Biden administration. Inside and outside the courtroom.”
Trump’s Department of Justice has issued an order limiting enforcement of the FACE Act, stringently curtailing the recent weaponization of the abortion access law against those arrested while delivering life-affirming information about alternatives outside of abortion vendors.
Moving forward, prosecutions and civil actions under the FACE Act will now be permitted only in “extraordinary circumstances” or cases presenting “significant aggravating factors.”
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation, reacted:
“Thomas More Society welcomes the news that the Department of Justice has been directed to dismiss with prejudice three remaining FACE Act cases brought against our peaceful pro-life clients. In all three of these cases, our attorneys have led the defense of pro-life advocates targeted by Biden’s DOJ—which had sought crushing penalties, fines, and injunctions against them to stop them from sharing their pro-life message. These cases should have never been brought and we are thankful to the Trump administration for righting that wrong. While this handful of cases is now slated for dismissal, there is no shortage of ongoing attacks on life-affirming ministries across the country as pro-abortion states double down on anti-life policies and lawfare. As these legal battles multiply in pro-abortion states, we will tirelessly continue to defend the entire pro-life movement.”
A member of The Proud Boys who was arrested by the FBI in White Plains for his action on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol was also pardoned by President Trump. Williams Joseph Pepe, 35, was convicted last year and was sent to be sentenced on March 11, but has now been pardoned.
According to evidence presented during the trial, on the morning of January 6, 2021, Pepe met a group of approximately one hundred Proud Boys members in Washington, D.C., near the Washington Monument at approximately 10:00 a.m. Shortly after, the group marched away from the rally near the monument toward the US Capitol building. Pepe and the group arrived at the Peace Circle, at the edge of the restricted portion of Capitol grounds, at approximately 12:50 p.m.
There, members of the crowd violently disassembled and trampled the metal bike rack barriers blocking further entry into Capitol grounds. The crowd, with Pepe at the front, charged over the fallen bike rack barriers and advanced toward the West Plaza of the Capitol. As they advanced, Pepe and the crowd encountered another set of metal bike rack barriers at the West Plaza, behind which was a line of police officers. Behind the officers was a waist-high black metal fence. Pepe dragged away a segment of the metal bike rack barriers, as did other rioters.
The police line then reformed behind the black metal fence. As Pepe and rioters approached the black metal fence, Pepe looked directly into a nearby camera and yelled, “Let’s go! This is what we came for, yeah!” Officers began to deploy pepper spray and other crowd control measures to get the crowd to disperse. Pepe was pepper sprayed, and he posted a selfie-style video in which he declared, “Yo, the cops pepper sprayed me and Hooks. Me and Hooks got f—ing maced. Storming that Capitol, baby!”
At 2:16 p.m., Pepe entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door. While in the Capitol, he recorded a video and sent it to fellow Proud Boys, where Pepe stated, “We did it.” Pepe was inside the building for approximately 38 minutes, exiting at 2:54 p.m. through a broken window beside the Senate Wing Door.
The FBI arrested Pepe on January 12, 2021, in White Plains. He worked for the MTA but called in sick on January 6. The MTA later fired him.
Pepe’s trial was not concluded until October 2024, when he was found guilty of a felony charge of tampering with records, documents, or objects, obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder, and misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and tampering with records, documents, or other objects.
He was to be sentenced on March 11, 2025, but has now been pardoned.
