Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot


What happened
President Donald Trump Monday night granted a blanket pardon to more than 1,200 supporters convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. He also commuted the sentences of 14 far-right militia members and ordered the Justice Department to drop more than 300 pending Jan. 6 cases.
Trump's actions will release about 400 people from jail, including rioters convicted of violently assaulting police officers, and Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders serving sentences up to 22 years for seditious conspiracy. Hours earlier, outgoing President Joe Biden had issued preemptive pardons for Capitol Police officers and members of the House Jan. 6 Committee, plus some family members and high-profile former officials, to protect them from Trump's threats of retribution.
Who said what
Trump's "sweeping move" gives "some form of clemency to all those charged or convicted in the riot," The Washington Post said. The pardons are a "culmination of Trump's yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack" from a violent attempt to overturn his 2020 loss to a "day of love" whose "patriots" were "hostages" of a partisan justice system, The Associated Press said. Trump's efforts have "gradually worn down the consensus that the riot marked one of American democracy's darkest days," The New York Times said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Several Republicans, including Trump's attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, recently criticized the rioters who attacked police officers. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Fox News earlier this month that "if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned."
What next?
Jailed Jan. 6 defendants are already being released from prison. A "pardon is not an expungement of a conviction," the Post said, but "restrictions on voting, gun ownership and other privileges are eliminated."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
June 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include a presidential get-out-of-jail-free card, masked ICE agents, and the Tooth Fairy's message for Senator Joni Ernst
-
Selling sex: why investors are wary of OnlyFans despite record profits
In The Spotlight The platform that revolutionised pornography is for sale – but its value is limited unless it can diversify
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
'We need solutions that prioritize both safety and sustainability'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
A running list of all the celebrities Trump has pardoned
IN DEPTH Reality stars, rappers and disgraced politicians have received some of the high-profile pardons doled out by the president
-
'The pattern is similar across America'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain