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President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned nearly all the rioters charged in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, wiping away criminal accountability and going further than some of his allies in Congress had suggested.
The sweeping proclamation, one of a blitz of actions from Trump on his first day back in office, commuted the prison sentences of 14 people convicted on more serious charges. And he granted a “complete and unconditional pardon” to “all other individuals” convicted for their roles in the attack during the congressional process to count electoral votes.
The attorney general should ensure all Jan. 6 defendants “who are currently held in prison are released immediately,” the proclamation states, and dismiss “all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct” related to the events.
More than 1,500 people have faced charges for their roles in the attack on the Capitol, a cohort that includes more than 100 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or seriously injuring a police officer.
Trump had forecasted his plans to pardon Jan. 6 defendants well ahead of his Inauguration Day. But the specifics of who might get a pardon remained unclear, with some Republicans wanting to draw a line between those charged with violent crimes and people convicted on lesser charges.
Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with Fox News earlier this month, said people who “peacefully protested” but were treated like gang members should be pardoned. But he also said “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., brought up the topic of pardons for Jan. 6 defendants during the confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Pam Bondi last week, and recalled walking past a lot of law enforcement officers who were injured.
“I find it hard to believe that the president of the United States or you would look at facts that were used to convict the violent people on January the 6th and say it was just an intemperate moment,” Tillis said. “I don’t even expect you to respond to that, but I think it’s an absurd and unfair hypothetical here.”
Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., also referenced that distinction, arguing that some Jan. 6 defendants walked “through an open door that the police opened” while there were also “violent protesters.”
Defendants who battered the police and destroyed property need to be in prison, said Rutherford, a former sheriff in Florida.
“I’m certainly not for an across-the-board pardon of everybody, because there’s some violent felons in there,” Rutherford said. “I’m a 41-year police officer. You attack a police officer, I want your ass going to jail.”
In the court of public opinion, Trump and his allies have sought to downplay and minimize the brutal attack, and some conservatives have spread falsehoods about the day and cast the defendants as “political prisoners.”
“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,” the document states.
The action is the latest touchpoint over the legacy of the day, in which a mob of pro-Trump rioters assaulted law enforcement officers, destroyed property and stormed the Capitol as they temporarily stopped the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the people who stormed the Capitol, particularly individuals who committed acts of violence, “should be held fully accountable,” adding that she would never let Trump “paper over the history and reality of that dark day.”
“It’s a sad day for America when a President who refused to relinquish power and incited an insurrection returns to office years later only to grant violent criminals a Presidential pardon or commutation,” Murray said in a statement.
On the 14 defendants whose sentences were commuted, some had been convicted of seditious conspiracy and other serious felonies. Trump said commutations he signed Monday night could be turned into full pardons later.
The judges in several of those cases had sentenced them with enhancements for having committed terrorism. The targets for commutations Monday night included Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers group who was convicted in 2022 of seditious conspiracy for attempting to disrupt the Electoral College count and multiple other felonies.
Also on the list was Kelly Meggs, who served as leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers. Meggs was similarly found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other charges.
Rhodes, along with other defendants, was convicted following an eight-week trial. Rhodes was later sentenced to an 18-year prison term. Meggs was sentenced to a 12-year term.
Similarly, Trump commuted the sentences of several leaders of another group, the Proud Boys. Trump commuted the sentences of Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl, who were sentenced to 17 years and 15 years in prison, respectively. Judges in the Biggs, Rehl and other cases sentenced the defendants under terrorism enhancements.
On Monday, Trump called those arrested for the attack “J6 hostages.”
“You’ll be happy because you know it’s action, not words that count,” Trump told a crowd on Capitol Hill after being sworn in. “And you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages.”