Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters serving prison terms for taking part in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, were released on Tuesday after the new president pardoned more than 1,500 people, including some who were police officers. But the attackers were also included.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said 211 people have been released from federal facilities following Trump’s order.
Trump’s sweeping apology — which went far beyond what his aides had indicated — drew condemnation from police who fought the crowd, their families and lawmakers, including some of the president’s fellow Republicans.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded on Tuesday found a majority of Americans disapproved of Trump’s decision.
Among those released was Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to use force to prevent Congress from certifying Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden. Was serving his sentence.
“It’s liberation, but also vindication,” Rhodes told reporters outside a Washington, D.C. jail, where a crowd of Trump supporters waited for the release of more prisoners.
Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on January 6, said he has no regrets and still believes Trump’s false claims that he lost the election because of fraud. Rhodes was released from a different facility in Cumberland, Maryland, earlier in the day, after Trump commuted his sentence.
Trump ordered clemency for all those charged in the attack, after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to overturn his election defeat. Around 140 police officers were injured in the violence, forcing lawmakers to flee to save their lives.
‘The man who killed my brother’
Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was attacked during the riot and died of multiple strokes the next day, called Trump “pure evil” on Tuesday.
“The man who killed my brother is now president,” he told Reuters.
“My brother died in vain. Everything he did to protect the country, to protect the Capitol – why did he care?” Sicknick said. “What Trump did is despicable, and it proves that the United States no longer has anything resembling a justice system.”
Trump’s order extended from people who committed mere misdemeanors, such as trespassing, to people who acted as ringleaders for the attacks.
Nearly 60% of respondents to the two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted shortly after Trump took office on Monday, said he should not pardon all of the Capitol defendants.
Senator Thom Tillis, one of Trump’s fellow Republicans, said sparing rioters who attacked police sent the wrong message.
“I saw an image in my news clipping today of the people who were overpowering that police officer. None of them should get an apology,” Tillis told Reuters in a hallway interview. “If you send the signal that police officers could potentially be attacked and there would be no consequences, you make this place less safe.”
Others welcomed Trump’s decision. Republican Representative Lauren Boebert said she would offer the defendants a tour of the Capitol after their release.
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, was among those released earlier in the day.
Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on January 6, but he was sentenced to 22 years longer than any other defendant after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the attack.
campaign promise
Trump’s pardon went further than many of his aides had indicated. Vice President J.D. Vance and Trump’s attorney general choice, Pam Bondi, have both previously said they believe people who commit violence will not be pardoned.
White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt defended the pardons, claiming without evidence that many of the convictions were politically motivated.
“President Trump campaigned on this promise,” he said on Fox News. “It should be no surprise that they accomplished it on the first day.”
According to Justice Department statistics, more than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty rather than stand trial, including 327 who pleaded guilty to felonies.
During the riot on January 6, police shot and killed a protester, Ashli Babbitt, as she tried to force her way into the House of Representatives chamber. Four officers who responded that day later died by suicide.
Trump wasn’t the only one pardoned on Monday: Outgoing President Joe Biden already pardoned five members of his own family in his final hours in office, a move that came after he pardoned his son Hunter Biden last year Who was accused of tax fraud. and illegal purchase of firearms.
Republican Senator Susan Collins said both presidents had done wrong, calling it a “terrible day for our Justice Department.” Tillis also criticized Biden’s pardon.
Trump’s action closed the largest investigation in Justice Department history, including more than 300 cases that were still pending. Federal court records showed prosecutors filed dozens of motions to dismiss the cases Tuesday morning.
The trial ended abruptly
In Washington, the trial of Kenneth Fuller and his son Caleb, who face serious charges of obstructing police during civil disorder, ended abruptly Tuesday.
Federal judges in Washington — including some appointed by Trump — have handled Capitol riot cases for years and have expressed concern over the day’s events. At a November hearing, Trump-nominated U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said a blanket pardon on Jan. 6 would be “hopeless or beyond despair,” according to the court transcript.
Judge Colleen Koller-Cotelli, who is presiding over Fuller’s trial, ordered it dismissed without discussion, noting that her ruling satisfies what she called Trump’s order.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Caleb Fuller, 22, said he and his parents drank a bottle of champagne in their hotel room after hearing Trump’s decision Monday night.
Fuller said he did not see any violence during the riot.
“I didn’t see anyone get hurt,” he said. “So I feel like everyone around me deserves forgiveness.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
