Hundreds of Capitol protesters have been released from prison after Trump’s massive pardon By Reuters

By Julio-Cesar Chavez, Andrew Goudsward, Jason Lange and Nathan Layne

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who had served prison terms for taking part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol were released on Tuesday, after the new president pardoned more than 1,500, including some attackers. the police.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said 211 people have been released from federal facilities following Trump’s order.

Trump’s sweeping pardon – which went further than his allies said they expected – was criticized by anti-mob police, their families and lawmakers , including some of the president’s fellow Republicans.

A majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s decision, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday found.

Among those freed is Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers group, who served 18 years in prison after being convicted of conspiring to use force to prevent Congress from confirming Trump’s defeat in 2020 to Joe Biden.

“It’s a redemption, but it’s also an indictment,” Rhodes told reporters outside the Washington DC prison, where a crowd of Trump supporters waited for more prisoners to be released.

Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, said he has no regrets and still believes Trump’s false allegations that he lost the election due to fraud. Rhodes had been released earlier in the day from a segregated facility in Cumberland, Maryland, after Trump revoked his sentence.

Trump ordered that everyone who is accused suffer, as a crowd of his supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn his election. About 140 policemen were injured in the riot, which sent law enforcement officers running for their lives.

‘THE MAN WHO KILLED ABUSO’.

Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was attacked during the riot and died of multiple injuries the next day, called Trump “pure evil” on Tuesday.

“The man who killed my brother is now the president,” he told Reuters.

“My brother died for nothing. Everything he did to try to protect the country, to protect the Capitol – why did he bother?” Sicknick said. “What Trump has done is reprehensible, and it proves that the United States no longer has anything resembling a justice system.”

Trump’s order expanded from people who committed wrongdoing to those who served as leaders of the attack.

Nearly 60% of respondents to a two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted shortly after Trump took office on Monday, said he should not pardon all those charged in the Capitol. .

One of Trump’s fellow Republicans, Senator Thom Tillis, said that keeping rioters who attacked the police sent the wrong message.

“I saw a picture today on my news of people who were oppressing those police officers. None of them should get an apology,” Tillis told Reuters in a roadside interview. “You make this place unsafe if you give the signal that the police may be attacked and there are no consequences.”

Others welcomed Trump’s decision. Republican Representative Lauren Boebert said she would offer tours of the Capitol to the defendants after they are released.

Among those released earlier that day was Enrique Tarrio, the frontman of the far-flung Proud Boys.

Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but he was sentenced to 22 years, longer than any other defendant, after being convicted of conspiracy for his role of planning an attack.

PROMISE CAMPAIGN

Trump’s pardons went further than many of his allies had signed. Both Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s attorney general pick Pam Bondi have previously said they believe perpetrators of violence cannot be forgiven.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt defended the pardon, saying without evidence that many of the allegations were politically motivated.

“President Trump campaigned on this promise,” he said on Fox News. “It should come as no surprise that he gave it away on Day One.”

More than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty instead of going to trial, including 327 who pleaded guilty, according to Justice Department statistics.

Another protester, Ashli ​​Babbitt, was shot by police during the January 6 riots when he tried to force his way into the House of Representatives. Four officers who responded that day later died by suicide.

Trump wasn’t the only pardon on Monday: President-elect Joe Biden in his final hours in office pardoned five members of his own family first, a move that followed his pardon last year of son Hunter Biden, who was accused of tax evasion. and the illegal purchase of firearms.

Republican Senator Susan Collins said both presidents had acted poorly, calling it “a bad day for our Justice Department.” Tillis also criticized Biden’s apology.

Trump’s action closes the largest investigation in Justice Department history, including more than 300 pending cases. Prosecutors filed multiple motions to dismiss cases Tuesday morning, federal court records showed.

TESTING ENDS WITH SERVICE

In Washington, the trial of Kenneth Fuller and his son Caleb, who faced felony charges of obstructing police during a public riot, ended abruptly on Tuesday.

Federal judges in Washington — including some Trump appointees — have handled Capitol riot cases for years and were shocked by the day’s events. In a November hearing, Trump-appointed District Judge Carl Nichols said the Jan. 6 pardons will be “more than confusing or disappointing,” according to the court’s transcript.

The judge presiding over Fullers’ case, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, ordered it dismissed without a hearing, noting that her sentence satisfied what she called Trump’s order.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Caleb Fuller, 22, said he and his parents popped a bottle of champagne in their hotel room after hearing Trump’s decision Monday night.

Fuller said he did not see any violence during the riots.

He said: “I didn’t see anyone get hurt. So I feel like everyone who was around me deserves an apology.