Trump’s pardon gave the defendants almost everything they wanted on January 6

Until Monday, even some of Donald Trump’s team did not seem to believe that he would release all those arrested after the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“If you committed violence that day, obviously you should not be pardoned,” Vice President J.D. Vance said a little over a week ago.

Testifying before Congress a few days later, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, agreed with a Democratic senator who asked her to condemn the violence that day.

“I don’t agree with the use of violence against police officers,” she said, adding that she was prepared to deal with each of the more than 1,500 riot-related cases separately.

Trump, however, took a much broader approach to business on his first day in office.

He issued several commutations and a full pardon, effectively exonerating all those involved in the riots and erasing the work of the largest criminal investigation in US history.

His executive order on Monday gave the rioters and their supporters almost everything they asked for, except for the monetary compensation from the government that some inmate groups had been demanding.

“These people have been destroyed,” Trump said after signing the order. “What they did to these people is outrageous. It was rare in the history of our country.”

There were celebratory scenes outside the prison in Washington, where several of those arrested on riot charges are being held, and on social media accounts run by the defendants and their supporters.

Mother of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tario, who was released on Tuesdayregularly posted updates about her son.

“Our president brought my son and all J6ers back to life!” Zuny Tarrio wrote after learning he would be released from his 22-year sentence. “They can live again! Breathe fresh air again! Feel the sunlight again!”

Among those released from a Washington prison on Tuesday was Rachel Powell of Pennsylvania, who was sentenced to more than four years in prison after smashing a Capitol window with an ice pick.

Speaking outside the prison, she told the BBC she would be home before her son’s birthday and praised Trump for keeping his promise. “He is more of a blessing to me than I could have imagined,” she said.

Some observers, including political scientists and lawyers representing the rioters, were surprised by the scope of the presidential order.

“The general consensus was that we would see a differentiation between those who committed violent acts and those who did not commit violent acts,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive nonprofit group that opposed the pardons.

“Donald Trump ran for office in defense of law and order, so it’s shocking and upsetting to see him move to pardon violent criminals,” she said.

Fourteen people convicted of some of the most serious crimes have had their sentences commuted – meaning their crimes will remain on the record but they will still be released from prison.

The Justice Department said in its latest update that approximately 1,583 people had been arrested or convicted of riot-related crimes.

More than 600 have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing police, including about 175 accused of using a weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

Most of the convicts served their sentences, or did not receive a sentence at all, but about 250 of those who are still in prison began to be released.

And it appears any further investigation — the FBI was still looking for at least 13 suspects and fugitives — will be dropped.

Underscoring the stunning finality of his move, Trump appointed Ed Martin as acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. — the prosecutor with primary responsibility for investigating riot cases.

Martin organized a rally in support of Trump the day before the riots and was a staunch critic of the entire investigation.

On the campaign trail, Trump made various statements about the rioters, sometimes promising full pardons but occasionally indicating that he might be inclined to keep some of them behind bars.

Supporters of the rioters hailed his full pardon on Monday and have long described the sentences handed down to people they call “J6 hostages” and “political prisoners” as politically motivated and harsh.

Norm Pattis, a lawyer who defended some of the prisoners, told the BBC Newshour that “the perception that this event somehow threatens the republic is overblown,” adding that Confederate rebels were pardoned after the Civil War.

“If we were able to come together as a country after such a violent act and after people openly took up arms and killed each other … why were we still prosecuting people for criminal acts four years after the afternoon riots?” – he said.

However, polls show that a full pardon, including for those convicted of brutal acts, is unpopular. Recent Associated Press poll it shows that only two in ten Americans approve of pardoning most of those involved.

Winston Pingen, the Capitol Police officer who was punched and pepper sprayed that day, told Newshour the pardon was a “slap in the face.”

“It’s a really unprecedented thing to know that these violent criminals who were convicted by juries of their peers for crimes that were largely televised to the entire country and the world are going to walk free,” he said.

In his executive order, Trump explained why he decided to replace the 14 convicts rather than offer them a full pardon. The list includes members of the far-right armed groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Oath Keepers leader Stuart Rhodes was on the list and was released on Tuesday morning, his lawyer said.

Rhodes, a former U.S. Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, led the oath-keepers to Washington days before the riots. According to court records, the group hid the weapons in a hotel room across the Potomac River in Virginia. Rhodes was not inside the Capitol, but ruled his members from the outside, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2023.

Rhodes’ lawyer, James Lee Bright, told the BBC that even those close to the cases were surprised by the broad nature of the pardon and the speed with which the prisoners were released.

“Despite our relationship with people close to the president, they were very tight-lipped” about the order, Bright said.

Tario, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was granted a full pardon, although five other members of his group were on the change list. Tario was not in the crowd that day because he was banned from entering the city. Instead, he socialized with other proud guys from a hotel in nearby Baltimore.

After Rhodes’ arrest, the Oath Keepers largely ceased operations, while the Proud Boys focused on local protests, particularly against transgender activists and drag the history of the clock. The latter group was also burdened by infighting between aging members and splinter groups promoting overtly white nationalist ideas.

Wendy Via, CEO and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said recently released militia members may try to resume their activities, bringing far-right groups that have largely dissipated back into the spotlight.

On Monday, dozens of “Proud Boys” were seen marching through Washington to celebrate the inauguration.

“Will the Proud Boys start trying to centralize the organization again like they did in 2021? This will be a big question,” said Ms. Vija.

“The effect of these pardons is that Trump has sent a message that violence is a viable tool for change as long as it is on his side,” she added.

With additional reporting by Regan Morris and Emma Vardy