Trump Grants Pardons of Jan. 6 Rioters 01/21 06:05

   President Donald Trump has pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed 
to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the 
Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting 
police officers, using his clemency powers on his first day back in office to 
undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of 
American democracy.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump has pardoned, commuted the prison 
sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged 
with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted 
of assaulting police officers, using his clemency powers on his first day back 
in office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the 
seat of American democracy.

   Trump's action, just hours after his return to the White House on Monday, 
paves the way for the release from prison of people found guilty of violent 
attacks on police, as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted 
of failed plots to keep the Republican in power after he lost the 2020 
presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.

   The pardons are a culmination of Trump's yearslong campaign to rewrite the 
history of the Jan. 6 attack, which left more than 100 police officers injured 
as the angry mob of Trump supporters -- some armed with poles, bats and bear 
spray -- overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows and sent lawmakers and 
aides running into hiding. While pardons were expected, the speed and the scope 
of the clemency amounted to a stunning dismantling of the Justice Department's 
effort to hold participants accountable over what has been described as one of 
the darkest days in the country's history.

   Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 
cases that are pending before judges stemming from the largest investigation in 
Justice Department history.

   Casting the rioters as "patriots" and "hostages," Trump has claimed they 
were unfairly treated by the Justice Department, which also charged him with 
federal crimes in two cases he contends were politically motivated. Trump said 
the pardons will end "a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon 
the American people over the last four years" and begin "a process of national 
reconciliation."

   The pardons were met with elation from Trump supporters and lawyers for the 
Jan. 6 defendants. Trump supporters gathered late Monday in the cold outside 
the Washington jail, where more than a dozen defendants were being held before 
the pardons.

   "We are deeply thankful for President Trump for his actions today," said 
James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Oath Keepers founder Stewart 
Rhodes, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence after being convicted of 
seditious conspiracy and other crimes.

   It's unclear how quickly the defendants may be released from prison. An 
attorney for Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys national chairman who was 
sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, said he expected his 
client to be released from prison Monday night.

   "This marks a pivotal moment in our client's life, and it symbolizes a 
turning point for our nation," attorney Nayib Hassan said in a statement. "We 
are optimistic for the future, as we now turn the page on this chapter, 
embracing new possibilities and opportunities."

   Democrats slammed the move to extend the pardons to violent rioters, many of 
whose crimes were captured on camera and broadcast on live TV. Former House 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it "an outrageous insult to our justice system and 
the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected 
the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution."

   "Donald Trump is ushering in a Golden Age for people that break the law and 
attempt to overthrow the government," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer 
said in an emailed statement.

   Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who lost consciousness 
and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, 
appeared taken aback to learn from an Associated Press reporter that those who 
assaulted police officers are among the pardon recipients.

   "This is what the American people voted for," he said. "How do you react to 
something like that?"

   Fanone said he has spent the past four years worried about his safety and 
the well-being of his family. Pardoning his assailants only compounds his 
fears, he said.

   "I think they're cowards," he said. "Their strength was in their numbers and 
the mob mentality. And as individuals, they are who they are."

   Trump had suggested in the weeks leading up to his return to the White House 
that instead of blanket pardons, he would look at the Jan. 6 defendants on a 
case-by-case basis. And Vice President JD Vance had said just days ago that 
people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot "obviously" should 
not be pardoned.

   Fourteen defendants, including several convicted of seditious conspiracy, 
had their sentences commuted, while the rest of those found guilty of Jan. 6 
crimes were granted "full, complete and unconditional" pardons.

   The pardons come weeks after the Justice Department abandoned its two 
federal criminal cases against Trump, citing its policy against prosecuting 
sitting presidents. Had Trump lost the 2024 election, he may have ultimately 
stood trial on charges in the same federal courthouse in Washington in the case 
that had accused him of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in a 
desperate bid to cling to power.

   More than 1,200 people across the U.S. had been convicted of Jan. 6 crimes 
over the last four years, including roughly 200 people who pleaded guilty to 
assaulting law enforcement.

   Hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants who didn't engage in any of the violence and 
destruction were charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses, and many of 
those served little to no time behind bars.

   But the violence that day has been documented extensively through videos, 
testimony and other evidence seen by judges and jurors in the courthouse that 
its within view of the Capitol.

   Police were dragged into the crowd and beaten. Rioters used makeshift 
weapons to attack police, including flagpoles, a crutch and a hockey stick. 
Investigators documented a number of firearms in the crowd, along with knives, 
a pitchfork, a tomahawk ax, brass knuckle gloves and other weapons. Officers 
have described in testimony fearing for their lives as members of the mob 
hurled insults and obscenities at them.

   Of the more than 1,500 people charged, about 250 people were convicted of 
crimes by a judge or a jury after a trial, while more than 1,000 others had 
pleaded guilty to offenses. Only two people were acquitted of all charges by 
judges after bench trials. No jury has fully acquitted a Capitol riot defendant.

   More than 1,000 rioters had been sentenced, with over 700 receiving at least 
some time behind bars. The rest were given some combination of probation, 
community service, home detention or fines.