On January 6, when Trump began to grant pardons to the accused, the leader of the oath-keepers left the prison
Donald Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago are set to begin being released from prison on Tuesday, after the newly-elected president issued a sweeping pardon that sparked outrage from lawmakers who were threatened by the January 6, 2021, attack.
Trump’s action would wipe out all but 14 of the nearly 1,590 people charged in the violence. The United States Constitution gives presidents broad pardon powers and there is no legal mechanism to challenge a presidential pardon.
Trump has directed the US attorney general to drop all cases related to the violence.
“These people are destroyed,” the Republican president said shortly after returning to the Oval Office for the first time since late last year. “What they did to these people is disgusting.”
Grant Tudor, a policy attorney at the advocacy group Protect Democracy, said the apology sent a message that “if you’re going to commit violence on behalf of the cause, Trump will protect you.”
“These pardons give permission for future violations of the law, including violence,” Tudor said.
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9 Oath Keepers Penalties Changed.
Transportation is extended About nine members of the Oath Guard militia and five of the Proud Boys, have their sentences shortened.
Stuart Rhodes, the former head of the Oath Guards who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for conspiracy to commit violence and other charges, was executed in Cumberland, Md., just after midnight Tuesday.
Rhodes did not enter the US Capitol on January 6, but was found guilty of conspiring to use force against Congress to prevent the certification of election. He was also accused of helping to store weapons in a nearby hotel.
Oath Keepers founder Stuart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It is the longest sentence so far for any crime committed by attempted violence. The judge said Rhodes poses a continuing threat to American democracy.
Rhodes, who wore an eye patch after accidentally shooting himself in the face with his own gun, died in 2010.
A former Army man who once attended Yale Law School, Rhodes was unrepentant in his May 2023 conviction, likening himself to Soviet Union-era dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He will spend more than three years in prison after his January 2022 arrest.
After his arrest in 2021, several of his fellow Oath Guards remained in jail for more than several months.
The list includes Florida Oath Keepers chapter leader Kelly Meigs, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison. His wife, Connie Meggs, was pardoned for her role in the Capitol attack.
Oath Keepers co-stars Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell welcomed communicators.
Watkins, a transgender woman who spoke openly during her trial about her struggles with identity while serving in the military, was sentenced to 8.5 years, while Harrelson received four years. Caldwell, who has never been a member of a jury, was convicted earlier this month of one count of tampering with evidence.
Oathkeepers Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, Joseph Hackett and David Moerschel were sentenced to three to four and a half years in prison.
The proud leader of the men received a full pardon
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol four years ago when Congress voted to impeach him. It was a failed attempt to prevent Joe Biden from confirming his 2020 defeat.
Their actions – following Trump’s inflammatory speech – saw them tear down walls and fight police. About 140 police officers were attacked and four people died during the riots, including a Trump supporter who was shot and killed by police trying to break into the compound. Four policemen who were on the scene that day died by suicide over the next seven months.
In the year Two members of the Pride Boys radical group, which a judge called the leader of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, have been sentenced to long prison terms.
Lawmakers and Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence fled to safety that day, while then-Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was looted.
Pelosi called it “a terrible insult to the heroes who have been physically scarred and emotionally scarred while protecting our justice system and the Capitol, Congress and the Constitution.”
The list of pardon recipients also includes Proud Boys frontman Enrique Tario. He was sentenced to 22 years for violent conspiracy – The longest of any person charged with a crime in the rebellion. Tario was found guilty of conspiring to violently oppose the transfer of power after the 2020 elections.
Founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes, Proud Boys’ origins stretch back almost ten years.
Tario, who lives in Miami, used to lead a neo-fascist group — known for street battles with left-wing activists — that Trump said in 2015. During his first presidential debate with Biden in 2020, he famously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand up.”
Proud Boys members Ethan Nordian (sentenced to 18 years), Joseph Biggs (17 years), Zachary Real (15 years), Dominic Pezzola (10 years) and Jeremy Bertino (3 years) were among the deals.
More than 660 arrests have been made in the Capitol riots.
More than 1,000 people have pleaded guilty to federal charges, including 327 felonies and 682 misdemeanors. An additional 221 people were found guilty, according to the US Department of Justice.
According to the data, 667 accused have been taken to jail.
Among those pardoned was David Dempsey. He received the longest prison sentence at the age of 20 And since August 2021 he has been in jail.
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Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, a retired Capitol Police officer, spoke to host Neil Kixall on the fourth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 riots.
Dempsey stomped on the heads of police officers, threw poles at officers defending a tunnel, hit an officer in the head with a metal crowbar, sprayed police with pepper spray and smashed furniture, prosecutors said. He was also sentenced for attacking the 2019 rally.
Peter Schwartz of Kentucky, who had 38 felony convictions since 1991, was paroled. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison after attacking the police with a hammer and a chair..
New York Police Department Officer Thomas Webster was sentenced in 2022. Up to 10 years imprisonment To use an iron flag to attack an officer.
Trump in 2016 They have been charged with crimes in an attempt to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election, a case they say is responsible for the violence at the Capitol. In the year The charges were dropped after he won the November 5, 2024 election.
In the days following the upheaval, Trump was banned from popular social media sites and condemned by his Republican colleagues, including Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, who were impeached by the House of Representatives.
“Enough is enough,” said Graham McConnell, but “the public has been fed lies. They are angry with the president and other powerful people.”
In recent weeks, key Trump allies have said they do not expect pardons for those involved in violence. including Vice President JD Vance.
