President Donald Trump issued pardons on Monday for over 1,500 individuals connected to the Capitol Hill protest on January 6, 2021, who had been prosecuted by former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department.
As he was signing the executive order for the January 6 pardons, Trump was asked whether the January 6 protesters would be receiving commutations or a full pardon. In response, the 47th president said, “Full pardon.” Trump added that there are roughly six January 6 commutations that his administration is conducting “further research” on.
Addressing the January 6 protesters imprisoned under the Biden-Harris administration, Trump said, “We hope they come out tonight, frankly.”
Prior to signing the pardons at the White House, Trump addressed his supporters at the Capital One Arena, promising to release the January 6 “hostages.”
“Tonight I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out,” Trump said. “I’m going to the Oval Office, and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people.”
“You see, take a look at what went on and look what happens in other parts of the country. In Portland, where they kill people, they destroy the city, nothing happens to them,” Trump added. “In Seattle, where they took over a big chunk of the city, nothing happened. Minneapolis, where they burned down the city, nothing happened. Essentially nothing happened.”
Contrasting the way left-wing protesters have been treated with the way the January 6 protesters were treated, Trump said, “All they want to do is go after the J6 hostages.” The president pointed to one case where a 76-year-old grandmother was arrested for her alleged involvement in the storming of the Capitol. Trump added, “We’re not going to put up with that crap anymore.”
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Following Trump’s mass pardon for the January 6 protesters on Monday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “The President’s actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution.”
Pelosi claimed it was “shameful” for Trump to make the January 6 pardons “one of his top priorities.” The former House speaker also claimed that Trump’s action on the first day of his presidency represented the “abandonment and betrayal” of the police officers who confronted the January 6 protesters to “stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power.”