President Donald Trump‘s controversial decision to pardon those involved in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was made with an expletive at the last minute.
As his team wrestled with the top issues to tackle on Inauguration Day, during their first hours in office, Trump weighed in, saying: ‘F **k it: Release ’em all,’ a source told Axios.
His decision to sign a blanket pardon for at least 1,500 people charged over the riot in Washington D.C. rankled many on his team and some officials in the Republican Party.
While Trump had talked about pardons for some of the rioters, the blanket dispensation – including those who used violence and attacked police officers – came as a surprise to many.
The former leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, were both released from prison hours after Trump signed the clemency order.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was serving an 18-year prison sentence.
Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, the former Proud Boys leader, was serving a 22-year sentence.
Donald Trump defended his decision to issue a blanket pardon to the Jan. 6th participants
Isabella Maria DeLuca was charged with storming the Capitol and passing a stolen table out of a broken window, allowing other rioters to use it as a weapon against police, according to court records
Watch President Trump issue mass pardon to Jan. 6 defendants
Trump supporters, meanwhile, shrugged off his decision to pardon all those involved.
‘He is who he is,’ a Trump official told NBC News. ‘Expectations are sometimes set as best as can be expected, and sometimes they change quickly.’
With a simple swipe of his pen, Trump released from prison his followers who were caught on camera breaking into the Capitol and fighting with police as they attempted to overthrow Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 election.
His pardon proclamation on Monday offered ‘a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.’
The federal Bureau of Prisons, by Tuesday morning, had released all of the more than 200 people in its custody for January 6 crimes, officials told The Associated Press.
Some critics pounced on Trump’s decision.
More than 150 police officers were injured on the day of insurrection and many blasted Trump for issuing the blanket get-out-jail-free card to his supporters.
Michael Fanone, a former police officer who was among those badly injured during the January 6 attacks, told NBC News the pardons were ‘outrageous’ but ‘shouldn’t come as a surprise to any American.’
‘The rule of law is dead in this country. We are now in the age of government lawlessness,’ Fanone said.
But the president defended his decision.
He called the prosecutions ‘ridiculous and excessive.’
Trump said he issued the pardons because in many cases, ‘these people have already served a long period of time, and I made a decision to give a pardon.’
He also blasted former President Joe Biden, who pardoned his son Hunter and other family members before he left office.
Biden also offered pre-emptive pardons to those who served on the committee investigating the January 6th insurrection.
‘Joe Biden gave a pardon yesterday to a lot of criminals. These are criminals that he gave a pardon to, and you should be asking that question,’ Trump said.
DeLuca said after her pardon: ”Last March, I was arrested by seven armed FBI agents, my apartment was raided, and my phone was seized. Tonight, I am honored to have received a pardon from President Trump’
January 6 defendants Gregory Purdy (C), Edward Jacob Lang (2nd L) and Robert Turner (R), celebrate their release with friends and well wishers outside the DC Central Detention Facility
Edward ‘Jake’ Lang, one of the defendants who was released after being pardoned, holds a Bible while hugging his girlfriend, Rachel Myers, outside of the DC Central Detention Facility
Trump offered a blanket pardon to more than 1,500 supporters who stormed the Capitol
‘Godspeed!’ January 6th rioter gets hero’s reception outside jail
Trump’s team is playing down concerns about fallout from the decision.
Officials told Axios the issue was decided with Trump’s win in the election, and voters care more about other matters.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly vowed to pardon those in the Capitol that day.
But he also indicated he’d look at cases individually.
‘I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,’ he told Time magazine during the campaign.
‘And the answer is, I will be doing that, yeah, I’m going to look if there’s some that really were out of control.’
