On Tuesday, President Donald Trump justified the commutations and pardons of over 1,500 people who were charged with offenses related to the Jan. 6 incident, including some who had been found guilty of attacking police officers.
In one of the first executive actions of his second administration, Trump pardoned all other people convicted of crimes connected to the Capitol disturbance in 2021 and shortened the sentences of 14 inmates. In connection with what turned out to be the biggest federal investigation in history, he also ordered the attorney general to drop any indictments that were still pending before judges.
When asked why he pardoned violent offenders by White House reporters, Trump responded, “They’ve served years in jail.” They spent years behind bars, and they shouldn’t have. Furthermore, murders in this nation are not even imprisoned.
“We pardoned people who were treated unbelievably poorly,” he continued.
When Congress was recognizing Joe Biden’s electoral victory on January 6, many of the people Trump pardoned had been found guilty of violent attacks on police officers guarding the Capitol. Those who were carrying weapons like hatchets, batons, and stun guns are eligible for the pardons.
Trump continued by claiming that members of the far-right militia known as the Oath Keepers were serving terms that he deemed absurd and disproportionate, adding that in the cases the White House considered, “these were people who actually love our country, so we thought a pardon would be appropriate.” A few Oath Keepers were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with January 6.
Trump frequently brought up the topic of violent crime in American cities, as well as the pardons that former President Joe Biden signed for the members of the Jan. 6 Committee and, separately, for his family members as he was leaving office.