On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump pardoned every single defendant accused of crimes at the January 6 storming of the US Capitol, including those convicted of brutal assaults against police officers. Over 1,500 people were granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon,” and 14 people, linked with right-wing extremist groups the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, had their sentences commuted.
Enrique Tarrio, former Proud Boys leader who was serving a 22-year sentence, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, was among those pardoned by Trump. Trump commuted the sentence of Stewart Rhodes, founder of militia group the Oath Keepers, serving an 18-year sentence, also for seditious conspiracy.
Right-wing groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters were key players on the ground on the day of the Capitol riots. Armed militia groups including the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters brought weaponry. Openly neo-Nazi organizations such as the Nationalist Social Club-131 also participated in the day’s riots.
Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was repeatedly assaulted by rioters on that day, called Trump’s act of clemency “a miserable miscarriage of justice.” Gonell told NPR that he was set to appear in court for the sentencing of a man who had attacked him with a pipe—a sentencing which is now canceled due to Trump’s interference.
Trump’s sweeping act of clemency could portend problems for his administration going forward. It appears that even those closest to him did not know about these upcoming pardons in advance, as his Vice President J.D. Vance said on FOX News as recently as January 12 that “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
Trump’s policy of pardons and commutations of January 6 rioters could prove very unpopular with the people of the US. A Quinnipiac University poll from December found that a majority (59%) opposed pardoning those convicted and jailed for their involvement in the January 6 riots. This includes 21% of Republican voters and 60% of independent voters. A Scripps News/Ipsos poll from November found that 64% of those surveyed opposed January 6 pardons, including 40% of Republican voters and 68% of independents. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll from December also similarly found that a majority of US adults (66%) oppose January 6 pardons.