By Miracle Ogunde
More than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election, have received pardon from Donald Trump on Monday.
This happened just hours after Trump took the oath of office, and also ordered that all pending criminal cases against Capitol riot defendants be dropped.
While describing the rioters as “hostages,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he had granted “full pardons” to more than 1,500 defendants.
AFP reports that among those receiving a pardon was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for directing a military-style assault on the Capitol.
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, had his 18-year prison sentence commuted to time served. Both Tarrio and Rhodes had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.
“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Trump said.
A total of 1,583 people were charged in connection with the assault on Congress by Trump supporters seeking to disrupt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign to pardon those who took part in the attack, calling them “patriots” and “political prisoners.”
Trump, whose first term as president ended under the cloud of the Capitol assault, has repeatedly played down the violence of January 6, even going so far as to describe it as a “day of love.”
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