CNN
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President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned more than 1,000 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and commuted the sentences of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders.
“They are hostages,” Trump said from the Oval Office, referring to the convicted and indicted defendants. “For a pardon, it’s about $1,500 for a full pardon.”
The sentence reductions cover the sentences of 14 far-right extremists from the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who were convicted or charged with seditious conspiracy.
With the latest pardon, President Trump granted full pardons to hundreds of people already convicted of serious crimes such as assaulting police and vandalizing property as part of efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
The “total, complete and unconditional” pardon also extends to those convicted of some of the worst crimes committed on the day of the Capitol attack.
The group also includes people like Julian Carter, who assaulted U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and later pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon. Devlin Thompson, who struck a police officer with a metal baton. Robert Palmer of Florida attacked police with a fire extinguisher, a wooden plank, and a pole.
The son who reported his father to the FBI after Jan. 6 said his father called him a “traitor.”
More than 140 police officers were injured during the seven-hour siege, which directly or indirectly resulted in the deaths of four Trump supporters and five police officers in the mob.
Late Monday night, hours after President Trump announced a series of sweeping pardons, two brothers convicted for their roles in the storming of the U.S. Capitol were released from a Washington, D.C., jail.
Andrew Ballentine and Matthew Ballentine, who pleaded guilty in September to assaulting police and were each sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last week, were released from the D.C. Central Detention Center on Monday night, according to Paul Ingrassia. It is said that he came out. He identified himself to reporters as President Trump’s liaison to the Justice Department.
“The first two defendants of January 6 have been released,” Ingrassia told reporters gathered outside the prison. CNN previously reported that on January 6, Matthew Ballentine tried to rip a baton from a police officer and Andrew Ballentine threw a chair at a police line.
CNN has reached out to the brothers’ attorneys and the DC jail.
More than 730 people were convicted of misdemeanors in connection with Jan. 6, according to the Justice Department’s latest estimates. Additionally, as of Monday, approximately 300 indictments remained pending in court, including those accused of violent felonies such as assaulting police. President Trump’s executive order presciently called for these charges to be dropped.
After the attack, the Justice Department and FBI launched a nationwide manhunt to identify and arrest the rioters, making it the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history. Prosecutors have indicted more than 1,580 people and convicted approximately 1,270 people.
According to Justice Department data, about 55% of the January 6 indictments were misdemeanor cases involving charges such as disorderly conduct and trespassing. The majority of those convicted have already been released after being sentenced to probation or several months in prison.
Donnie O’Sullivan stands at the scene where convicts are scheduled to be released on January 6th.
Some of the defendants are elderly people caught up in the frenzy. Some individuals entered the Capitol building for several minutes, but did not attack anyone or destroy property. Most have no criminal record. Most of the riot participants said they had no intention of breaking into the Capitol, much less disrupting Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results. Some believe they were waved into the building by police.
But Trump also called January 6 a “day of love and peace” and insisted his supporters posed “zero threat.” These false claims are belied by hundreds of video clips of Trump supporters beating police with flagpoles, batons, wooden clubs, and baseball bats, using stun guns and chemical spray, and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with officers.
The brother of Brian Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died the next day after being assaulted during the riot, condemned President Trump’s plan to pardon many of the rioters.
Craig Sicknick recently told supporters at a liberal advocacy group that pardons would allow rioters to “evade responsibility” and that “obviously “It’s wrong,” he said, urging people to sign a petition opposing the pardon.
“Donald Trump and his supporters are determined not only to celebrate the violent mob that murdered my brother, but to pardon those responsible,” Craig Sicknick said in a message. Ta. “This is a betrayal not only of the families and loved ones of those who were injured or killed, but of the American people as a whole.”
El Reeve visits a house rented by supporters of the January 6th participants
On Monday, Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said he remembers Jan. 6 well, saying, “There was violence. This was not peace. People were in danger, and it was a very important day for America.” It was a bad day.”
The South Dakota senator acknowledged the president has the power to grant pardons, adding that he respects it “constitutionally,” but stressed, “Right now we’re looking forward.” .
Among the 14 people whose sentences were commuted by President Trump on Monday was Kelly, an Oath Keeper member and leader of the group’s Florida detachment who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on a seditious conspiracy conviction. Meggs is also included.
Thomas Caldwell was also granted a pardon. Although he was not a member of the Oath Keepers, he led efforts to form a rapid reaction force to quickly transport firearms to Washington, D.C., on January 6th, if the far-right group deemed it necessary. .
Oath Keepers member Jessica Watkins, who was serving a nearly nine-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and other felonies, also had her sentence commuted by President Trump.
A pardon does not erase a defendant’s criminal history or overturn a conviction, but a pardon does add to a defendant’s record.
However, a pardon forgives the crime and restores the recipient’s civil rights, such as the right to own a gun or vote. For convicted rioters on probation, a pardon would end their probation early.
The president also has the power to commute the sentences of people convicted of federal crimes. For example, the president could commute or eliminate someone’s prison sentence, which could pave the way for jailed January 6 riot participants to be released from custody.
Unlike a pardon, a commutation of sentence does not excuse the crime or restore the recipient’s civil rights. Like a pardon, a commutation of sentence does not erase a conviction.
Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney appointed by Biden to oversee the prosecution of the rioters, last week denounced any possibility of a pardon, but said nothing would erase the events of 2021.
“A pardon doesn’t erase what happened,” Graves told CNN.
Most Americans oppose these pardons, according to a recent poll on the topic conducted before Trump took office. Independents also strongly oppose amnesty for the Jan. 6 rioters, but data shows it is very popular among Republicans.
One poll found that 59% of adults oppose pardoning those who “forced their way into the Capitol.” Two separate surveys found that 66% and 62% opposed pardoning people “convicted” of the Capitol attack. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 59% of registered voters oppose pardoning anyone “convicted and incarcerated” in connection with January 6th.
But a large portion of President Trump’s base supports leniency. Quinnipiac asked about pardons for people already “convicted and incarcerated,” and found Republican support was solid at 67%.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Donie O’Sullivan contributed to this report.
