Trump pardons two Alaska diesel mechanics at campaign rally

Oct 13, 2026

At an October 13, 2026 midterm election rally in Wasilla, Alaska, President Donald Trump signed onstage unconditional pardons for Anchorage repair shop co-owners Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, while announcing clemency for co-owner Michael Wayne Hanzuk. The men had pleaded guilty in 2022 to federal Clean Air Act violations for removing emissions controls on 37 diesel vehicles. Defending their actions as necessary for cold-weather operations, Trump framed the prosecutions as unfair overreach by the Biden administration.

Pardons granted at the rally

▪President Donald Trump announced during his October 13 Wasilla rally that he was also pardoning Michael Wayne Hanzuk, a third co-owner of the Anchorage repair shop Arm Rippin Toys, Inc., alongside Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming
▪President Donald Trump signed unconditional pardons onstage for Anchorage diesel repair shop co-owners Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming during an October 13, 2026 campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska

Remarks defending the mechanics

▪Onstage at the Wasilla rally, mechanic Zachary Czubak stated that a federal Clean Air Act prosecution against Arm Rippin Toys destroyed friendships and families, emphasizing that the mechanics were trying to help Alaskans rather than commit crimes
▪President Donald Trump defended diesel mechanics Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming in Wasilla, arguing that their prosecutions under the Biden administration were unfair and that removing emissions equipment helped trucks operate in Alaska's extreme cold

Wasilla campaign rally

▪During the October 13 Wasilla rally, President Donald Trump declared that an 800-mile natural gas pipeline in Alaska had secured every necessary federal permit
▪While signing clemency documents onstage at the Wasilla rally, President Donald Trump criticized former President Joe Biden for using an autopen to sign documents
▪President Donald Trump hosted the October 13, 2026 campaign rally at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla to support Senator Dan Sullivan and other Alaska Republicans ahead of the November midterms

Prosecution of Arm Rippin Toys

▪The co-owners of Arm Rippin Toys, Inc. pleaded guilty in 2022 to federal charges of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act by removing pollution control equipment and tampering with monitoring devices
▪Arm Rippin Toys co-owners Zachary Czubak and Michael Wayne Hanzuk were previously sentenced to five years of probation, community service, and ordered to pay a $66,000 fine
▪Federal prosecutors stated that Arm Rippin Toys, Inc. collected approximately $100,000 for modifying emissions controls on at least 37 diesel vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020

Earlier diesel mechanic pardons

▪President Donald Trump previously granted pardons in July 2026 to Mackenzie 'Mac' Spurlock and other Alaskan diesel mechanics convicted of similar Clean Air Act emissions violations
▪President Donald Trump previously granted an earlier pardon in July 2026 to Wasilla diesel shop owner Mackenzie 'Mac' Spurlock

Debatable claims

▪Severe climate conditions justify disabling diesel truck emissions hardware in Alaska
▪Trump's pardon of the Arm Rippin Toys mechanics undermines federal environmental enforcement
▪Issuing presidential pardons onstage at campaign rallies degrades the executive clemency process