United States President Donald Trump has given clemency to everyone prosecuted for the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol in one of his first official acts in the Oval Office.
In a broad reversal of the years-long push to punish those guilty for trying to reverse the conclusion of the 2020 US election, Trump on Monday pardoned around 1,500 of his supporters and shortened the sentences of 14 others.
In a statement released on the White House website, Trump stated, “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
Trump’s pardons cleared the slate for many of individuals convicted of the most serious offenses on January 6.
The pardons also cleared the criminal records of over 700 people convicted of misdemeanour offenses such as trespassing and halted hundreds of pending prosecutions.
Stewart Rhodes, the head of the far-right Oath Keepers, was among those whose sentences were commuted. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail for seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official procedure, and interfering with papers and proceedings.
While Trump pledged to pardon many of the January 6 defendants during his re-election campaign, it had been unclear how far he would go to extend clemency to those who participated in the attack.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Vice President JD Vance said only those who had protested “peacefully” on January 6 should receive pardons.
Trump’s act of clemency drew swift condemnation from Democrats and other critics of the president.
A total of 1,583 people were charged over the events of January 6, when a mob of Trump supporters attempted to block a joint session of the US Congress from certifying US President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Rioters injured more than 140 police officers and inflicted economic losses of about $2.8m, according to US prosecutors.
More than 1,200 people were convicted of offences, including about 250 people convicted of assault.
Of the total, more than 700 people were sentenced to prison time.
Trump himself had faced charges over his role in the January 6 riot until the US Justice Department in November dismissed the case in line with its longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
