On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned nearly all of the 1,500 individuals charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The sweeping pardons fulfilled a campaign promise to exonerate his supporters involved in what federal judges and prosecutors have described as an assault on American democracy.
With this move, Trump effectively overturned four years of legal proceedings, including more than 1,100 convictions in what the Department of Justice had called the largest investigation in U.S. history.
In addition to pardoning almost all defendants, Trump commuted the sentences of over a dozen others. Among them were Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, who was sentenced in 2023 to 22 years in prison, and Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, who had received an 18-year sentence for conspiracy to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.
The broad scope of the pardons contradicted the “case-by-case review” approach Trump and his allies had suggested before the inauguration. The decision also defied warnings from Republican allies who opposed clemency for individuals who had attacked law enforcement officers during the riot.
The pardons will provide limited immediate relief to over 700 defendants already convicted, many of whom had either served their prison terms or avoided incarceration.
Trump’s executive order also directed the Department of Justice to dismiss all remaining cases related to the January 6 attack, including hundreds of pending criminal proceedings involving defendants awaiting trial or sentencing.
