WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday said that the U.S. Capitol Police Department was in the midst of the 2020 U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol amid false claims that the 2020 president He granted pardons to approximately 1,500 supporters and commuted the sentences of 14 people in connection with the Capitol attack. The presidential election was rigged against him.
President Trump commuted the sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers associates convicted of seditious conspiracy. He then issued a “full, complete and unconditional pardon for all other individuals convicted of crimes related to the events that occurred on or near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.” gave. This includes people who have assaulted law enforcement officers.
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“This is a big deal,” Trump said as he signed the document in the Oval Office, adding: “Frankly, I expect them to come out tonight.”
The family of Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy, said in a media statement Tuesday that he will be released from FCI Pollock, a medium-security federal prison in Louisiana, late Monday. He said he was scheduled to arrive in Miami on Tuesday.
Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy and served 22 years in federal prison.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was Speaker of the House at the time of the attack, called President Trump’s actions an “outrageous affront to our justice system” and condemned the law enforcement officers who guarded the Capitol that day. did.
“It is shameful that the president has made one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who risked their lives to thwart attempts to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” he said in a statement. Ta. “Despite the President’s decision, we must always remember the extraordinary bravery and bravery of our law enforcement heroes who broke through on that dark day to ensure the survival of our democracy.”
This pardon fulfills one of President Trump’s central campaign promises.
Immediately after the Jan. 6 attack, President Trump sought to distance himself from the attack, saying those who broke the law should be held accountable. But in the years that followed, a new narrative emerged, and President Trump soon began publicly expressing support for the Jan. 6 rioters, calling them “hostages.”
The unprecedented storming of the Capitol, which interrupted the peaceful transfer of power, marked one of the most important moments in American history.
The result was the largest investigation in FBI history, resulting in more than 1,500 criminal charges and 1,100 defendants being convicted. Many low-level riot defendants were convicted and sentenced to probation for misdemeanors, such as illegally parading inside the Capitol.
But hundreds of others who committed serious felonies, such as assaulting police with a deadly or dangerous weapon, received heavier sentences.
At the time President Trump granted clemency, about 700 defendants were either serving no prison sentences or had already served their sentences. In other words, pardons and commutations would have little practical impact beyond restoring voting and gun rights to people who were convicted of crimes. of a serious crime.
More than 600 people have been sentenced to prison, but only a fraction of them are still behind bars. Many of those in custody at the Federal Bureau of Prisons were convicted of violent assault on police officers protecting the Capitol during the Jan. 6 assault, in which defendants carried firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, and bicycles. They were armed in storage areas. Batons, metal whips, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, tomahawk axes, hatchets, hockey sticks, knuckle gloves, baseball bats, giant “Trump” signs, “Trump” flags, pitchforks, wood, Crutches and even explosives.
More than 140 police officers were injured and several Trump supporters were killed in the attack. These include those who were shot trying to break into the Speaker’s Lobby and those who died during fierce fighting in the Lower West Tunnel, where the worst of the crowds were. Violence occurred that day.
President Trump did not mention January 6 in his inaugural address, in which he said he hoped to one day be remembered as a “peacebuilder and unifier.”
But shortly afterward, he addressed a crowd of supporters who had flooded the Capitol and addressed the defendants of Jan. 6, claiming that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged.” He reiterated his claim.
In his speech, President Trump said, “I was going to talk about the J6 hostages,” using the word “hostage” to refer to criminal defendants, including hundreds of people who have admitted criminal crimes under oath. and of their associates, which included those who had been convicted by judge and jury. “But you’ll be happy, because it’s the actions that count, not the words. And you’re going to see a lot of action against the J6 hostages.”
A lawyer who handled the Jan. 6 case as a federal prosecutor told NBC News that there was always a possibility that President Trump would return to power and pardon defendants in the Capitol riot, but that the Justice Department said it was “due to political considerations.” “I pushed ahead with it anyway,” he said, “because it shouldn’t have any influence.” This is part of an evaluation of the facts and law by the Department of Justice that indicates these are indictable offenses, some of which are very serious. ”
The official said they and many of their colleagues “have no regrets at all for pursuing these cases,” adding that on Jan. This work remains extremely important, as it has created a comprehensive factual record. .
“These incidents have reassured the police officers and civilians who were assaulted at the Capitol that there are human beings and there is a Department of Justice that recognizes what they endured and sacrificed. These incidents “This led to hundreds of defendants pleading guilty and admitting their crimes,” the source said. “The courtroom was open to the public, and hundreds of others were tried and convicted.” “This work is likely to be terminated before it is fully completed. Most importantly, the special counsel’s work ended abruptly. But the record remains.”
