Trump defends Jan. 6 pardons of violent criminals
Trump said his pardons and commutations for Jan. 6 defendants were justified, and argued that people who commit violent crime in other cities don't get charged.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended the pardons and commutations of roughly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including some convicted of assaulting police officers.
Trump, in one of the first presidential acts of his second term, commuted the sentences of 14 prisoners and pardoned all others convicted of offenses related to the 2021 riot. He also directed the attorney general to dismiss all indictments pending before judges related to what became the largest federal investigation ever.
“They’ve served years in jail,” Trump said in response to questions from reporters at the White House about why he pardoned violent offenders. “They should not have served, and they’ve served years in jail. And murderers don’t even go to jail in this country.”
He added, “We pardoned people that were treated unbelievably poorly.”
Many of those pardoned had been convicted of violent attacks on police officers defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory. The pardons apply to people who were armed with items such as stun guns, batons and hatchet.
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