Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the unrest in Washington on January 6, 2021. But after Trump's order, the sentence was shortened, and in a film clip published by The Wall Street Journal, it can be seen how the extremist leader gets into a car and leaves the prison.
Also, Enrique Tarrio, who then led the right-wing extremist Proud Boys, has left prison, according to AP. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison in September 2023 – the longest sentence handed down for the storming, but has been fully pardoned by Trump.
Ex-police officer worried
The President's decree applies to all those convicted of federal crimes in connection with the storming.
14 of them have had their sentences shortened, while the rest, around 1,500 people, have been unconditionally pardoned. Donald Trump has described them as "patriots who were taken hostage".
Proud Boys member Gabriel Augustin Garcia, sentenced to one year in prison for serious crimes during the storming, celebrated by cutting off his ankle monitor, according to NBC News.
Jacob Chansley, who became known as the "shaman" after storming the Congress building bare-chested with a horned fur hat, writes on X that he will celebrate his pardon by buying weapons.
Among those pardoned are also several who were convicted of serious violence against police officers in connection with the storming. Nine deaths have been linked to the riots.
This is what the American people are voting for. How do you react to that? asks former police officer Michael Fanone, who had a heart attack when a rioter used a stun gun against him, to AP.
For four years, he has been constantly worried about his and his family's safety. The fact that his attacker is now pardoned is increasing his worry, he says.
"Golden age" for criminals
Through the pardon, Trump is legitimizing the deadly uprising and signaling that political violence has no consequences, says Professor Nicole Hemmer at Vanderbilt University to The Washington Post.
It's increasing the worry about authoritarian tendencies in the incoming government, she says.
Several Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, have reacted strongly to Trump's announcement.
"Donald Trump is starting a golden age for people who break the law and try to overthrow the government", says Schumer in an email to AP.
On January 6, 2021, members of the US Congress gathered in the Capitol to count the presidential election's electoral votes and formally declare Democrat Joe Biden the winner and next president.
In the capital Washington DC, tens of thousands of Donald Trump supporters had also gathered for a political mass meeting on the theme "Save America". At the meeting, Trump repeated his false claims of systematic electoral fraud and claimed that he was the real winner. He urged his supporters to go to Congress.
If you don't fight like hell, you won't have a country anymore, Trump said.
Parts of the crowd did as he said. The protests turned violent when hundreds of people stormed the Congress building and clashed with police. Some took over one of the chambers and parts of the building were vandalized.
Nine deaths can be linked to the storming, according to AP.
