The US president is sweeping away years-long efforts to punish those responsible for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
United States President Donald Trump has pardoned all those charged in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, in one of his first official acts in the Oval Office.
In a sweeping reversal from a years-long campaign to punish those responsible for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 US election, Trump on Monday pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters and commuted the sentences of 14 others.
Trump said in an announcement posted on the White House website: “This announcement ends a grave national injustice committed against the American people over the past four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
Trump’s pardon cleared the records of several of those convicted of the most serious crimes on January 6, including Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.
The pardon also erased the criminal records of more than 700 people convicted of crimes, such as trespassing, and put an end to hundreds of pending prosecutions.
Among the high-profile figures to have their sentences commuted was Stuart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, obstruction of official proceedings, and tampering with documents and proceedings.
Asked whether those who assaulted police should be punished, Trump said they had been in prison “for a long time already.”
“I see killers in this country doing two years, one year, maybe no time. They’ve already been in prison for a long time. These people have been destroyed,” Trump said, calling their treatment “heinous.”
While Trump pledged to pardon several defendants on January 6 during his re-election campaign, it was not clear how far he would go to grant clemency to those who participated in the attack.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Vice President J.D. Vance said only those who protested “peacefully” on January 6 should receive a pardon.
“If you committed acts of violence that day, obviously you should not be pardoned,” Vance said. “And there’s a little bit of a gray area there.”
Trump’s act of clemency drew swift condemnation from Democrats and other critics of the president.
“The President’s actions are an outrageous affront to our judicial system and the heroes who have suffered physical scars and emotional trauma while protecting the Capitol, Congress, and the Constitution,” former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a post on X.
“It is shameful that the President has decided to make it his highest priority to abandon and betray police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power.”
1,583 people were charged in connection with the events of January 6, when a crowd of Trump supporters attempted to prevent a joint session of the US Congress from certifying US President Joe Biden’s election victory.
The rioters injured more than 140 police officers and caused about $2.8 million in economic losses, according to US prosecutors.
More than 1,200 people were convicted of crimes, including about 250 of assault.
Of the total, more than 700 people were sentenced to prison.
Trump himself faced charges over his role in the January 6 riots, until the US Justice Department dismissed the case in November, in line with its long-standing policy not to prosecute a sitting president.