Washington (AP) On his first day in office, President Donald Trump used his clemency powers to end the largest investigation and prosecution in Justice Department history on Monday, pardoning more than 1,500 of his supporters accused of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including assaults on police.
Defendants who were caught on tape attacking law enforcement violently during a meeting of lawmakers to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory are among those scheduled to be released from prison. Leaders of the extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in the Justice Department’s most serious prosecutions will also have their prison terms shortened and be released.
The attorney general is being instructed by Trump to request the dismissal of roughly 450 cases that are still outstanding as of January 6.
Following Trump’s years-long effort to alter the events of the Jan. 6 attack, which injured over 100 police officers and jeopardized a peaceful handover of power, the pardons were anticipated. The Justice Department’s efforts to bring those involved accountable for what has been called one of the darkest days in American history have been severely hampered by the clemency’s scope.
In the weeks before his return to the White House, Trump had indicated that he would consider the Jan. 6 defendants individually rather than pardoning them all at once. Just a few days ago, Vice President JD Vance stated that it was clear that those who were responsible for the Capitol riot’s savagery should not be given a pass.
Trump has accused the Justice Department of treating the rioters unfairly and charged him with federal crimes in two cases that he claims were politically motivated, while also portraying the rioters as patriots and hostages. According to Trump, the pardons mark the beginning of a national reconciliation process and put an end to a serious national injustice that has been inflicted upon the American people for the past four years.
Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison, is expected to be freed from prison Monday night, according to his lawyer. Serving the longest sentence of all of the Jan. 6 defendants, Tarrio was found guilty of masterminding an unsuccessful attempt to maintain Donald Trump in office following the Republican’s loss in the 2020 election.
The pardons follow weeks after the Justice Department’s stance of prosecuting sitting presidents led to the dismissal of Trump’s own case on January 6. Trump might have been put on trial in the same federal courthouse overlooking the Capitol where Jan. 6 cases have been heard for the past four years if he had lost the 2024 election.
In the disturbance, about 1,200 people have been found guilty, including about 250 who were found guilty of assault.
Misdemeanor trespassing charges were brought against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants who did not participate in any of the violence and devastation; many of them received little to no jail time.
However, there is ample video, eyewitness, and other proof of the violence that day, which shows rioters, some with bats, poles, and bear spray, assaulting the Capitol, swiftly overrunning overpowered police, smashing windows, and driving politicians and staffers into cover.
Police officers were battered after being pulled into the mob. A rioter repeatedly shocked a cop with a stun gun, causing him to have a heart attack, and another officer yelled in agony as he was crushed in a doorframe. As members of the mob threw insults and profanities at them, officers have testified that they were afraid for their lives.
About 250 of the more than 1,500 defendants have been found guilty of crimes by a jury or judge following a trial. As of January 1, at least 1,020 had entered guilty pleas. Following bench trials, judges cleared only two defendants of all charges. No defendant in a Capitol riot has ever been found not guilty by a jury.
Over 700 of the more than 1,000 rioters who have already received sentences have spent at least some time in prison. Probation, community service, home detention, or penalties were imposed on the remaining individuals.
By Associated Press reporters Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer.
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