President-elect Donald Trump recently announced that he is planning on considering pardons on the first day of his administration for those involved in the storming of Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
During an interview with Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the president-elect indicated that he plans on looking at the “individual cases” the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department brought against the people who protested in the Capitol on January 6.
“I’m going to be acting very quickly.” Trump said. Asked how quickly he would consider pardoning them, Trump said, “First day. I’m looking first day. These people have been there, how long is it? Three or four years.”
Trump added, “They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”
According to NBC News, at least 1,572 people have been charged, and over 1,251 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted in the storming of Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. The outlet noted that at least 645 protesters were sentenced to prison with different lengths of incarceration, from just a few days to 22 years in prison.
NBC News reported that roughly 250 January 6 defendants are currently in custody, with most of the individuals in custody after being convicted for their involvement in the protest following the controversial 2020 presidential election. The outlet noted that the president-elect did not rule out pardoning the individuals who have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the protest.
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According to NBC News, Trump said the defendants “had no choice” and are now “living in hell” due to the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department. Trump also admitted during the recent interview that there “may be some exceptions” to his plan to pardon the January 6 protesters “if somebody was radical, crazy.”
Asked about over 900 individuals who pleaded guilty in connection with January 6 and were not accused of assaulting police officers, Trump claimed that the defendants had been unfairly pressured into accepting guilty pleas.
“I know the system. The system’s a very corrupt system,” Trump told Welker. “They say to a guy, ‘You’re going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.’ And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed. For two years, they’ve been destroyed. But the system is a very nasty system.”
