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.

Watch "TMZ Live" today ... check your local listings.