By Julio-César Chavez, Andrew Goudsward, Jason Lange and Nathan Layne
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who were serving prison sentences for participating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 were released on Tuesday, after the new president pardoned more than 1,500 people, including some who attacked. police officers.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said 211 people were released from federal facilities following Trump’s order.
Trump’s sweeping pardon — which went further than his allies had suggested — drew condemnation from the police who fought the mob, their families and lawmakers, including some of the president’s Republican colleagues.
A majority of Americans disapproved of Trump’s decision, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Tuesday.
The decision was also criticized by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the largest police union in the United States which had supported Trump in the 2024 election. The FOP and the International Association of Chiefs of Police said in a joint statement that they were “deeply discouraged” by these pardons.
Among those released was Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the far-right group Oath Keepers, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting to use force to prevent Congress from certifying the Trump’s defeat in 2020 against Joe Biden.
“It’s redemption, but also vindication,” Rhodes told reporters outside the Washington DC prison, where a crowd of Trump supporters awaited the release of more prisoners.
Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, said he has no regrets and still believes Trump’s false claims that he lost that election due to fraud. Rhodes had been released earlier in the day from a separate facility in Cumberland, Maryland, after Trump commuted his sentence.
Trump ordered pardons for all those charged in the assault, when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to overturn his election defeat. Some 140 police officers were injured in the carnage, which sent lawmakers running for their lives.
“THE MAN WHO KILLED MY BROTHER”
Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was attacked during the riot and died of multiple blows the next day, called Trump “pure evil” on Tuesday.
“The man who killed my brother is now president,” he told Reuters.
“My brother died in vain. Everything he did to try to protect the country, to protect the Capitol – why did he bother?” Sicknick said. “What Trump did is despicable and proves that the United States no longer has anything resembling a justice system.”
Trump’s order extended from people who committed only crimes such as trespassing to those who served as ringleaders for the assault.
Nearly 60% of respondents in the two-day Reuters/Ipsos survey, conducted immediately after Trump took office on Monday, said he should not pardon all Capitol Hill defendants.
One of Trump’s fellow Republicans, Sen. Thom Tillis, said sparing the rioters who assaulted police sent the wrong message.
“I saw in my clippings today a picture of the people crushing this policeman. None of them should get a pardon,” Tillis told Reuters in a hallway interview. “You’re making this place less safe if you send the signal that police officers could potentially be assaulted and there are no consequences.”
Others praised Trump’s decision. Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert said she would offer tours of the Capitol to the defendants after their release.
Among those released earlier in the day was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right group Proud Boys.
Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on January 6, but was sentenced to 22 years in prison, longer than any other defendant, after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the attack.
CAMPAIGN PROMISE
Trump’s pardons went further than many of his allies had indicated. Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, previously said they believed people who committed violence would not be pardoned.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt defended the pardons, saying without evidence that many of the convictions were politically motivated.
“President Trump campaigned on this promise,” she said on Fox News. “It’s no surprise that he delivered on his promises from day one.”
More than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty rather than face trial, including 327 who pleaded guilty to crimes, according to Justice Department statistics.
One protester, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by police during the January 6 riots when she tried to force her way into the House of Representatives chamber. Four police officers who responded the next day committed suicide.
Trump’s pardons weren’t the only ones granted Monday: Outgoing President Joe Biden, in his final hours in office, preemptively pardoned five members of his own family, a move that followed the pardon of his son Hunter Biden, accused last year of tax fraud. and an illegal purchase of firearms.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said both presidents acted wrongly, calling it “a terrible day for our Justice Department.” Tillis also criticized Biden’s pardons.
Trump’s action ends the largest investigation in Justice Department history, which involved more than 300 cases still pending. Prosecutors filed dozens of motions to dismiss the cases Tuesday morning, according to federal court records.
TRIAL COMES TO A BRUTAL END
In Washington, the trial of Kenneth Fuller and his son Caleb, accused of obstructing police during civil unrest, ended abruptly Tuesday.
Federal judges in Washington — including some appointed by Trump — have been handling Capitol riot cases for years and have expressed concern over the day’s events. At a hearing in November, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said a blanket pardon on Jan. 6 would be “beyond frustrating or disappointing,” according to a court transcript.
The judge presiding over the Fullers’ trial, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, ordered the lawsuit dismissed without discussion, emphasizing that her decision satisfied what she called Trump’s executive order.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Caleb Fuller, 22, said he and his parents drank a bottle of champagne in their hotel room after hearing Trump’s decision Monday night.
Fuller said he did not witness any violence during the riot.
“I didn’t see anyone get hurt,” he said. “So I feel like everyone who was around me deserves to be pardoned.”
