On Monday evening, President Donald Trump granted clemency to over 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, storm on the Capitol where 140 police officers were injured.
The pardons came in a wave of day-one executive orders signed by the president, quickly ending the Justice Department’s four-year effort to prosecute the individuals.
On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters broke into the Capitol and forced their way inside to prevent the certification of Joe Biden‘s win in the 2020 election and the peaceful transition of power. Many broke windows and doors, assaulted Capitol officers and caused lawmakers to fear for their lives.
Prosecutors said that more than 170 people were accused of using weapons against police officers.
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“I have been betrayed by my country,” former police officer Michael Fanone told CNN. Fanone defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, and body cam footage revealed rioters swarming Fanone, grabbing and attacking him as he screamed.
Daniel Rodriguez used a stun gun on Fanone, repeatedly shocking him and causing him to suffer a heart attack. Rodriguez, sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, has been pardoned for his crimes.
“My family, my children, and myself are less safe today because of Donald Trump and his supporters,” Fanone said.
Trump pardoned nearly all individuals involved in the riot who were convicted of crimes. He also directed the Justice Department to direct federal courts to dismiss all pending cases. This will pave the way for people convicted of violently attacking police officers and conspirators who plotted to keep Trump in power in 2021 to be released from prison.
Among the individuals granted clemency were Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy, Oath Keepers Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs, who was sentenced to 12 years, and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year sentence.
Trump has declared his aim to rewrite the history of the attack on Jan. 6 since the start of his campaign in 2024. At a Trump rally in Ohio in March 2024, an announcer referred to the convicts as “hostages” and later called them “unbelievable patriots.”
“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” Trump said at a 2024 rally in Texas. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”
“These people have been destroyed,” he said on Monday. “What they’ve done to these people is outrageous. There’s rarely been anything like it in the history of our country.”
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