Trump pardons 1,500 people charged in US Capitol protest January 6 By Reuters
By Sarah N. Lynch, Nathan Layne and Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned about 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a major show of support for people who beat police while trying to prevent lawmakers from ensuring his defeat in the 2020 election. .
“We hope they will come out tonight,” Trump said. “We are waiting.”
He said the six defendants will have their sentences reduced.
These measures fulfill the promise of the Republican campaign to help supporters who were charged and in many cases imprisoned for crimes committed during the violence, an unsuccessful attempt to stop the congressional certificate of victory for Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.
The lawyer for the former leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, said he expects his client to be released from state prison.
Some inmates serving sentences related to January 6 could be released as soon as Monday, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman confirmed, adding that the bureau was still waiting for Trump’s official action.
Thousands descended on the Capitol in 2021 following Trump’s fiery speech, tearing down barriers, clashing with police and sending lawmakers and Trump’s vice president Mike Pence scrambling for their lives as they gathered to formalize the election results.
Trump said most of the nearly 1,600 people indicted in the riots have been treated unfairly by the legal system and in remarks to supporters at the Capitol after being sworn in Monday he also called them “hostages.”
Tarrio’s lawyer, Nayib Hassan, said he is not sure if Tarrio will get a full pardon or a commuted sentence. His mother also wrote to X that Tarrio will be released.
Tarrio is serving a 22-year sentence, the longest of any criminal charge in the riot, for conspiracy to treason. He was found guilty of conspiring to violently oppose the transfer of power after the 2020 elections.
Tarrio’s defense attorney, Joe Biggs, said he was also told by the mediator that Biggs was being considered for release. Biggs, a senior member of the Proud Boys, was also convicted of treason and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Addressing supporters in Washington Capital One (NYSE:) Arena, Trump did not specify how many people he plans to pardon. But Tarrio and Biggs’ arrangements suggest that those accused of the most serious crimes in the Capitol attack could be among those receiving clemency.
“We’re going to release our biggest captors who didn’t do it — for the most part — they didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said. He often refers to the Capitol defendants as “captives” even though they were subject to the usual criminal process and many have pleaded guilty or been found guilty of crimes.
SORRY, RELATED TO HIM
A source familiar with his plans said earlier on Monday that Trump intends to cut short sentences for some people who have attacked police and issue full amnesty to people who have not committed violence.
Prosecutors accused Tarrio, Biggs and the rest of the Proud Boys leadership of inciting violence after Trump lost the 2020 election and playing a leading role in fueling the Capitol breach.
Leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers organizations are among those serving time in prison for their role in the violence. More than 600 people have been charged with assaulting or obstructing police during the violence, according to figures from the US Department of Justice.
Trump vowed in his 2024 campaign that he would pardon many of those charged with crimes, saying they had been mistreated by the legal system.
The president’s clemency power includes the power to remove the legal consequences of a conviction by pardoning or terminating or commuting a sentence.
The US Constitution gives presidents broad pardon powers and there is no legal way to challenge a presidential pardon.
Trump’s biggest supporters in recent weeks have said they did not expect pardons for people who committed violence.
“The president doesn’t like people who abuse the police,” Trump’s senior lawyer Pam Bondi said last week during his Senate impeachment hearing.
Similarly, Vice President JD Vance in an interview with Fox News earlier this month said, “If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn’t be forgiven.”
