WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the events that transpired on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, using his clemency powers on his first day in office.
Trump has claimed they were unfairly treated by the Justice Department that also charged him with federal crimes in two cases he contends were politically motivated. Trump said the pardons end “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
An attorney for Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, said he expects his client to be released from prison Monday night. Tarrio is serving the longest sentence of any of the Jan. 6 defendants.
The pardons come weeks after Trump’s own Jan. 6 case was dismissed because of the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Had Trump lost the 2024 election, he may have ultimately stood trial in the same federal courthouse within view of the Capitol where Jan. 6 cases have been playing out over the last four years.
More than 1,200 people have been convicted in the riot, including approximately 250 people convicted of assault charges.
Hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants who didn’t engage in any of the violence and destruction were charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses.
Of the more than 1,500 people charged, about 250 people have been convicted of crimes by a judge or a jury after a trial. At least 1,020 had pleaded guilty to crimes as of Jan. 1. 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 have already 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.