Former President Donald Trump has vowed that one of his first acts if re-elected to office will be to free those imprisoned in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, whom he labeled as “hostages.”
“My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social late Monday.
More than 1,350 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, according to the DOJ, after rioters stormed the building to protest former President Trump’s election loss and the validity of Biden’s win.
Donald Trump speaks at a “Commit to Caucus” rally in Clinton, Iowa, on Jan. 6, 2024. ( TANNEN MAURY/AFP via Getty Images)
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Of those, at least 560 defendants received sentences while at least 335 were sentenced to periods of incarceration, the DOJ said in a January update.
Nearly 490 individuals were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony, according to the latest Dept. of Justice figures. The investigation remains ongoing.
Trump’s vow to free the prisoners comes as a new report detailing a “hidden transcript” claims that the Jan. 6 congressional committee allegedly falsely claimed it did not have evidence that showed former President Trump’s administration requested National Guard assistance.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Trump himself is facing a federal trial in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election loss to remain in power and is challenging it on the grounds that he is immune from criminal prosecution.
He is also facing charges in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, in a case being spearheaded by embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis.
Trump has repeatedly promised to pardon those convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot.
Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has ruled that some criminal defendants who were charged in connection with the Capitol riot had their sentences improperly increased.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that defendant Larry Brock’s sentence improperly included charges of “interference with the administration of justice.”
The longest sentence was handed down to former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury in Washington, D.C. Three other leaders of the Proud Boys were each sentenced to between 15 and 18 years.