Capitol riot leaders Tarrio and Rhodes released from prison

Former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes have been released from prison, as President Donald Trump releases more than 1,500 people charged in the US Capitol riots ago. four years.

Less than 24 hours after Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of those who tried to violently overturn the 2020 election, the two most prominent leaders of the riot were released from prison. Trump also dismisses charges against those charged, but not yet tried, for the riot.

“My son Enrique Tarrio has been officially released as of now!” Zuny Tarrio published in X.

Rhodes, who was not pardoned but had his sentence commuted, is waiting in jail for the defendants to be released.

Rhodes, a former U.S. Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, had been accused of leading a contingent of Oath Keepers members to Washington.

Although Rhodes did not enter the Capitol, he led his members from outside and was sentenced in 2023 to 18 years in prison.

Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy – a rarely used charge of planning to overthrow the government – ​​for the mutiny. He was not in Washington DC during the riots, but led others involved.

He received a 22-year sentence, one of the longest handed down.

Amid the pardons and commutations, Trump also signed an order directing the Justice Department to drop all pending cases against suspects accused of participating in the riot.

A prominent defender of those defendants, Edward R. Martin, was also named acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., demonstrating the depth of Trump’s desire to end the years-long prosecutions. The Washington office was charged with trying cases related to January 6.

Democrats have condemned the release of more than 1,000 people as an attempt to rewrite history and clean up the violence of the riots that led to multiple deaths.

Trump has described the day as “peaceful” and the jailed or imprisoned rioters as “hostages.”