President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon people accused of committing crimes during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, stands to affect dozens of people with ties to North Carolina.

Trump on Monday commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of more than 1,500 people charged with crimes in the riot. Police were dragged into the crowd and beaten. Rioters used makeshift weapons including flagpoles, a crutch and a hockey stick to attack police officers.

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Hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants who didn’t engage in the violence or destruction were charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses, and many of those served little to no time behind bars. Among them is Steve Baker of Durham, who in November pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor counts, including trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.

Baker is an independent journalist who works with Blaze News, an online publication that conservative political commentator Glenn Beck founded in 2011 after leaving Fox News. Baker didn’t have media credentials when he entered the Capitol to document the mob.

Baker maintains that he did nothing wrong. He told WRAL Wednesday that he pleaded guilty to the charges because he didn’t believe the court would allow him to present the type of legal defense he sought. In the wake of Trump’s executive order, Baker says his sentencing, scheduled for March, is on the verge of being canceled.

“Yesterday, the U.S. attorney filed a motion with the court demanding my case be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to the order that President Trump signed,” Baker said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I'm just waiting for the signature from the judge right now.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., which has been handing Baker’s case and others like it, declined to comment on Trump’s pardon, referring reporters to the president’s executive order.

WRAL has been working to contact North Carolina defendants who have since been pardoned. A number of cases were still in court. At least 10 defendants who were already serving sentences — including several in our area — were released from prison this week, federal records indicate.

Some law enforcement groups and moderate Republicans have criticized Trump’s decision.

The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., denounced Trump’s move in a statement this week, saying: “When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence.”

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said last week that he didn’t want to see pardons for people who had committed violence against police officers. Tillis was in the Senate on Jan. 6. He was among the last people to leave the chamber when the rioters broke into the Capitol.

"I’ve got concerns with any pardons for people who did any harm to police officers. Full stop," Tillis told CNN on Tuesday.

Baker, who’s not among those charged with violent offenses, was shocked to receive charges at all. Baker captured video of the riot that has been used by a number of reputable media outlets, he said. Some of his footage shows officers walking by him with little concern about him.

“I had no concept whatsoever on the day that I would ultimately be charged with breaking a [law] or committing a crime of any kind,” he said.

An FBI affidavit alleged that Baker entered the Capitol through a broken door and joined the mob at the barricaded doors to the House chamber. The affidavit also claims that Baker “antagonized” police officers who tried to keep him on the other side of a doorjamb, repeatedly asking, “Are you going to use that [gun] on us?”

Baker told WRAL that he “didn't do any cat calling at the law enforcement officers."

An image from U.S. Capitol Police video, which the U.S. Justice Department used in its statement of facts, shows Baker being led away from the building by a U.S. Capitol Police officer. Baker said the image is proof he wasn’t disorderly.

“She came up to me and took me by the arm and said, “Sir, can I safely escort you out of the building?” he recalled. “To which I said, ‘Do I need to be safely escorted out of the building?’And she said, ‘Yes sir, you do.’ And I didn't resist.”

Baker said he considers himself more fortunate than other defendants, who he claimed were “over-prosecuted” for trespassing and got unreasonable sentences.

He says he’s gained notoriety for his case, as evidenced by a stream of media requests for interviews. “My career actually benefited from this,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.