President-elect Donald Trump is set to pardon the rioters who descended on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as soon as he takes office in January.
“I’m going to be acting very quickly. First day,” Trump said about his supporters who have been incarcerated for their role in the riot. “They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”
Trump spoke about providing freedom to the Jan. 6 rioters in an exclusive interview with Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Trump also said that this will not be a blanket pardon covering all 1,572 defendants.
“If somebody was radical, crazy,” chances are they will not receive clemency.
Of the approximately 1,572 people charged, more than 1,251 have been convicted or pleaded guilty. At least 645 of those defendants have been sentenced. These sentences range from a few days to 22 years in federal prison.
Currently, about 250 people are in custody, serving the sentences that have been handed down to them. Some are in custody awaiting trial.
Those who have pleaded guilty — including those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers — may be pardoned, too.
“Because they had no choice,” Trump said.
Around 900 have pleaded to taking part in the attack, something they did under pressure, the president-elect said.
“I know the system. The system’s a very corrupt system,” Trump said. “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.”
The Jan. 6 rioters’ charges have ranged from unlawful parading to seditious conspiracy.
