president Donald Trump He pardoned almost all of the defendants on January 6 Monday night in the Oval Office, after promising in his opening statement to sign an executive order on the matter.
Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump signed the release of more than 1,500 people accused of crimes stemming from the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The order requires the Federal Bureau of Prisons to act immediately upon receiving a pardon.
“Tonight I will sign an amnesty for the J6 hostages to get them out,” Trump said at the military parade held at Capital One Arena in Washington. “I'm going to go to the Oval Office and we're going to sign pardons for a lot of people.”
Among those pardoned was Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman, who faced a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy. Tarrio's lawyer told The Associated Press that he expects Tarrio to be released Monday evening.
Trump previously promised that he would “act very quickly” on his first day in office to pardon the alleged “hostages.”
President Donald Trump suspends an executive order after signing it at the presidential inauguration in Washington, Monday, January 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Trump's pardon “shameful” and said she remembered the “courage” of law enforcement “heroes” who “ensured the survival of democracy.”
“The President’s actions are an outrageous affront to our judicial system and the heroes who have suffered physical scars and emotional trauma while protecting the Capitol, Congress, and the Constitution,” Pelosi, who did not attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, said in a statement. It was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It is shameful that the president has decided to make it his highest priority to abandon and betray police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Pelosi said.
The pardon was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump was expected to sign Opening day. Other directives he signed Monday include withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, which the United States initially joined under former President Barack Obama's administration in 2015.
Trump previously withdrew the United States from the agreement during his first term in 2020.
Trump will take more than 200 executive actions on day one
President Donald Trump signs executive orders on stage at an indoor inauguration ceremony in Washington, Monday, January 20, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)
On Monday morning, former President Joe Biden issued a series of pardons just hours before Trump was sworn in at the US Capitol. Among those who pardoned Biden was the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired General Mark Milley, whom Trump accused of treason. The others pardoned by Biden are participants in the January 6 select committee investigation that investigated the attack.
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President Donald Trump previously promised that he would “act very quickly” on his first day in office to pardon the alleged “hostages.” (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
Biden said in a statement: “Issuing this pardon should not be misconstrued as an admission that any individual was involved in any wrongdoing, nor should its acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any crime.” “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
