President-elect Donald Trump promises to pardon January 6 rioters on his first day in office

Dec 09, 2024

Washington DC (USA) December 09 (ANI): Donald Trump plans to pardon rioters involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack on his first day in office. Trump stated he would "be acting very quickly" regarding the pardons during an interview with NBC News. The 2021 Capitol attack left more than 140 police officers injured and caused several deaths. At least 1,572 defendants have been charged in the Capitol attack, making it America's largest-ever criminal investigation. Charges against the rioters range from unlawful entry to seditious conspiracy and violent assault. As of now, more than 1,251 defendants have been convicted or pleaded guilty, and 645 have been sentenced to prison. Trump called the prosecution of his supporters corrupt and did not rule out pardoning those who had already pleaded guilty. There has been growing hope among January 6 defendants and their supporters for broad-based clemency. The potential pardons follow Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, reversing his earlier pledge not to interfere with his son’s criminal cases. Experts expressed concerns that broad amnesty for Jan 6 defendants could wrongly incentivize further violence