Trump pardons all Capitol attack convicts

New US government

Trump pardons all Capitol attack convicts

The attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a turning point in the USA. Hundreds of people were sentenced after the violence broke out. Donald Trump keeps his word – and more. He releases everyone.

Shortly after taking office, the new US President Donald Trump pardoned all supporters convicted of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump signed a corresponding decree in the White House in Washington just hours after his inauguration. Such a comprehensive pardon for the perpetrators of this unprecedented attack on US democracy came as a surprise and contradicts previous announcements from Trump’s environment.

According to Trump’s decree, the prison sentences of 14 convicts will be shortened and will now be considered served. These are members of the right-wing extremist “Proud Boys” and “Oath Keepers” who were accused of particularly serious crimes such as “seditious conspiracy” – some of them were sentenced to long prison sentences of more than 10 or 15 years.

Trump issued comprehensive and unconditional pardons for all of the more than 1,000 people convicted so far in connection with the Capitol attack. The president ordered them to be released “immediately.” He also ordered the Justice Department to drop all other pending criminal proceedings in the case.

Throughout the entire election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to pardon criminals from back then. However, those close to him, including his vice president JD Vance, had previously emphasized that no one would be pardoned if they had become violent. Trump, on the other hand, did not want to commit to details before his inauguration – and now surprised with the rigorous decision of impunity for everyone.

Trump had previously raved about the “great hostages” at an event to the cheers of supporters in a sports arena and added: “In most cases, they did nothing wrong.”

Senior Democrats expressed shock. Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi spoke of a “disgraceful” decision and an “outrageous insult to the legal system”.

A US president has the authority to shorten the sentences of perpetrators convicted under federal law or to pardon those convicted entirely – even retrospectively, i.e. after a sentence has been served. Trump had repeatedly promised during the election campaign to use this authority to pardon supporters who took part in the storming of the Capitol. He referred to them as “political prisoners” and “hostages.” These are the fighting words of Trump’s movement, which blatantly glorifies the anti-democratic violence that erupted back then.

On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters violently stormed the parliament building in the capital Washington. Congress met there to formally confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory against Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Fanatical Trump supporters overran barriers, brutally beat police officers and forced their way into the parliament building while Trump stood idly by. As a result of the riots, five people died.

Trump had previously incited his supporters in a speech with the unsubstantiated claim that the election victory had been stolen from him through massive fraud. Since then, he has repeated this statement countless times. To date, Trump has not admitted his defeat in the 2020 election. The unprecedented attack on US democracy continues to have repercussions today.

According to figures from the US Department of Justice from early January, more than 1,500 people were charged at the federal level as a result of the riots – the charges ranged from resistance to state power to attacks on police officers and “seditious conspiracy”. A good 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty, and several hundred cases went to trial.

So far, according to the department, about 1,100 defendants have been convicted of criminal acts related to the Capitol attack – more than 660 of whom received prison sentences and another 145 defendants who were sentenced to prison were granted house arrest instead of prison. Several hundred cases were still ongoing recently, but are now to be discontinued in accordance with Trump’s order.