Donald Trump pardons 1,500 Jan 6 rioters, declares them political 'hostages'
World News | Explore US President Donald Trump's controversial decision of pardoning Capitol rioters just hours into the fresh term in the White House.
US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued a full pardon for around 1,500 of his supporters who, in 2021, sought to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden by attacking the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Keeping his campaign promise, Trump pardoned participants of the Jan 6 Capitol riots and said: "These are the hostages — approximately 1,500 people — for a pardon, full pardon."
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Former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi decried the pardon, calling them an "outrageous insult" to the US justice system.
"The president's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress, and the Constitution," said Pelosi in a statement.
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Addressing the press, the newly inaugurated US President said that the J6 participants have been treated very badly and directed the US Justice Department to drop all pending cases related to the rioters of the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Trump said he hoped some of them would be freed on the same night: "We hope they come out tonight, frankly… They're expecting it."
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2021 Capitol riots: What had happened?
On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol Hill complex, where a joint session of Congress was formalising Joe Biden's victory.
Trump supporters, wielding flagpoles, baseball bats, hockey sticks and other makeshift weapons along with Tasers and canisters of bear spray, took to attacking the Capitol. This followed a fiery speech by Trump in which he repeated his false claims that he won the 2020 race, calling on his supporters to march on Congress.
Watch | Trump pledges to pardon "A Lot of People" and overturn 80 Biden policies at inaugural parade
Subsequently, more than 1,500 people were charged in connection to the assault, in which over 140 police officers were injured.
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia reports that 1,583 individuals face charges related to the Capitol riot, with 608 specifically accused of assaulting or hindering law enforcement.
(With inputs from agencies)
