The January 6 riots are expected to see Trump keep his pardon promise

Of all the supporters of Donald Trump, Derrick Evans has some reason to be happy about the results of the November election – he hopes that the president-elect will forgive him for taking part in the January 6 protests at the US Capitol.

“A pardon would be life-changing,” said Evans, who was a member of the West Virginia legislature when he and at least 2,000 others stormed the Capitol in 2021. It was part of an attempt to overturn the results of the US election, the motivation. in the false belief that Trump won, not President Joe Biden.

He reached a deal with prosecutors that saw him plead guilty to public nuisance and spend three months in state prison in 2022. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said that he would pardon the protesters, whom he called “patriots” and “political prisoners”. But who exactly will be pardoned – and when – remains an open question.

“I believe he is a man of his word,” Evans told the BBC.

In March, Trump wrote on his Public Truth account that one of his first acts as president would be to “Release the wrongfully imprisoned January 6 hostages!”

He repeated this promise at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago in July.

“Oh, sure, I would,” he said, “If they were innocent, I would forgive them.”

But he stopped short of proposing a complete pardon, at one point telling CNN: “I’m inclined to forgive many of them. I can’t say to all of them, because a few of them, maybe they got out of control.”

Earlier, his campaign said that decisions will be made “case by case when he returns to the White House”.

The events of January 6 led to the largest federal investigation in US history. About 600 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or obstructing the police.

Some of those who have been given longer sentences, such as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, did not participate in the violence that took place inside the building. Instead, they were convicted of conspiracy and other charges of organizing the protest.

Still under arrest. In an update released last week, the FBI said it is still searching for nine suspects wanted for violent assaults on police officers.

But as Trump — who still maintains, without evidence, that he is the winner of the 2020 election — returns to the White House, the future of the investigation remains uncertain.

Citing Justice Department sources, NBC News reported that officials are focused on trying the “most serious” cases before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Meanwhile, several Capitol defendants have asked for the hearing to be delayed as they await amnesty.

Among them is Christopher Carnell, a North Carolina man who was convicted of riot-related charges earlier this year. His lawyers asked for the trial to be adjourned last week due to the possibility of “sympathetic measures in his case”, but the request was rejected.

Jonathanpeter Klein, and his brother Matthew pleaded guilty to several charges in July, and asked that his sentencing hearing, scheduled for November 15, be delayed. That request was also rejected.

Wendy Via, founder of the non-profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), said there is already a sense of excitement among the rioters and their supporters.

“People in the border areas want the release of what they call Jan 6 ‘prisoners of war’ or ‘captives’,” he said.

They include Jake Lang, who faces multiple charges including assaulting the police, and who regularly posts on the Internet from his prison in New York.

After Trump’s victory he wrote on X: “IM COMING HOME!!!! FINALLY THE POLITICAL PRISONERS ON JANUARY 6 ARE COMING HOME!!!!”

“In just 75 days from January 20, 2025, when Donald J Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, he will pardon all the J6 hostages.”

GPAHE also found out that some groups are planning to sit down until Trump takes office and the amnesty is made official.

One post on the Proud Boys Telegram channel suggested members avoid the January inauguration: “Stay home or hold your local watering hole and celebrate the inauguration of our President and the imminent release of our boys.”

In a blog post, Via said the pardon “will make a mockery of our justice system, and it will send a message to his followers that violence is a legitimate response to political outcomes they don’t like.”

At the moment, parole for everyone charged with violence-related crimes seems unlikely, but non-violent offenders like Derrick Evans have asked for parole in large numbers.

And, he suggested, the pardon would not be enough to compensate him and others for the time they spent behind bars.

“I think there should be compensation and restitution involved,” he said.

North American journalist Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the White House race in his biweekly US Election Unspun newsletter. UK students can register here. Those outside the UK can register here.