Trump Says He’d ‘Absolutely’ Consider Pardoning ‘Every’ Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter, If Reelected

Former President Donald Trump stated that, if he becomes president again, then he would consider pardoning all the convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioters on a “case-by-case” basis.

“You have called the men and women who have been prosecuted for their actions on Jan. 6 ‘hostages’ and ‘political prisoners,'” the Time journalist asked Trump. “More than 800 of these people have been sentenced through our judicial system, most of whom pleaded guilty. Some of them have been convicted by juries. You’ve said you will pardon them. Are you calling into question the conclusions of the justice system in more than 800 cases?”

“It’s a two-tier system,” the former president declared. “Because when I look at Portland, when I look at Minneapolis, where they took over police precincts and everything else, and went after federal buildings when I look at other situations that were violent, and where people were killed, nothing happened to them. Nothing happened to them.”

“I think it’s a two-tier system of justice,” he claimed. “I think it’s a very, very sad thing. And whether you like it or not, nobody died other than Ashli,” Trump claimed, referring to Ashli Babbitt, who was killed by a police officer trying to forcibly enter the House chamber during the Jan. 6 riot. 

“Will you consider pardoning every one of them,” the reporter asked him.

Trump replied, saying that he would “absolutely” consider pardoning all of the convicted rioters.

“If somebody was evil and bad, I would look at that differently,” he admitted. “But many of those people went in, many of those people were ushered in. You see it on tape: the police are ushering them in. They’re walking with the police.”

The group that Trump described as “J-6 Patriots” includes Capitol attack defendants caught on tape brandishing or using firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bike racks, batons and bear spray, among other weapons during the riot.

The Trump campaign said in the statement that the former president would make separate decisions about the over 1,387 cases brought to date. 

“As President Trump has promised, he will pardon Jan. 6 protestors who are wrongfully imprisoned by Crooked Joe Biden’s Justice Department, and those decisions will be determined on a case-by-case basis when he is back in the White House,” Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign, stated. 

In March, the former president stated that he would “free” the rioters as one of his first acts as president. 

“My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the Jan. 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned,” he wrote in a Truth Social post made on Mar. 11.

Only 15 defendants are being held pretrial after federal judges decided there was clear and convincing evidence that they were dangerous to their community or even a flight risk. 

According to prosecutors, most of the defendants being held pretrial had been caught on video assaulting officers. The other imprisoned defendants are serving time after being sentenced by a federal judge.

In August 2023, Trump pleaded not guilty in court to four federal charges about the investigation into a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 attack. 

On Mar. 17, Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, slammed him on CBS’ Face the Nation for saluting prisoners involved in the Capitol riot and labeling them as “hostages” during the introduction of his Dayton, Ohio campaign rally. 

Trump raised his right hand and saluted while the “Jan. 6 Choir” sang the “Star Spangled Banner” during this introduction on Mar. 16. 

The choir is made up of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others who have been imprisoned for their involvement in the failed insurrection.