Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Texas remains home to dozens of those charged and pardoned for their role.  Some have continued to publicly defend their actions, while others appear to quietly be rebuilding lives interrupted by criminal charges.

A search of public records shows nearly all with links to north central and northeast Texas have stayed out of legal trouble.

One exception is Ryan Taylor Nichols of Longview, who pepper-sprayed officers at the Capitol.

Within months of his pardon last year, Gregg County court records show he was accused of assault by contact. In August, a jury found him guilty of the misdemeanor, sentencing him to pay a fine.

Nichols also launched a run for Congress last year before dropping out, citing, in part, mental health issues related to his incarceration.

"I didn't start seeing some of the prolonged issues I had with prolonged solitary confinement until I came home," he explained in a video shared to social media.

Also running for office is Larry Brock, captured on video on Jan. 6 dressed in tactical gear on the floor of the US Senate.

He's now running for a seat in the Texas House on a platform he says sprang from his experience.

"We have to have full faith and confidence in our elections, which I'm still right, they're still wrong, 2020 was stolen and it's important that that never happens again," he said in an interview.

Others involved on Jan. 6 have called for legal action against judges, prosecutors, and FBI agents who helped put them in prison and filed claims seeking restitution from the U.S. government for damage and injuries they say they suffered as a result.

In an interview following their pardons for assaulting police, Mark and Jalise Middleton in Cooke County said they were seeking to have their records wiped clean

"If the judge approves that, they're saying this should have never happened in the first place, and it would be removed altogether as if it never happened," said Jalise.

Both, though, said they had no regrets.

The founder of the Oathkeepers, meanwhile, Stewart Rhodes of Granbury, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, has in recent months announced efforts to relaunch the group.

An online fundraiser, though, has shown little support so far.

"The threat isn't really as much from these organized groups as much as it is from the movements and the narratives and the grievances that these movements can spread," said Jon Lewis, a research fellow tracking domestic threats at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

Anti-government rhetoric, he says, has only grown stronger with those once labelled traitors now walking free.

"I think for a lot of those people, it just emboldened them, he said.

During their trials, though, some participants, though, expressed regrets.

Many lost jobs, marriages, and other close relationships.

Some have also moved to new towns or even out of state, a possible sign of efforts to start over.