From PBS NEWS HOUR this summary
justice for January 6 rioters with this of ongoing trials and those planned:
“Here’s
where January 6 trials stand on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot”
As of January 6, 2025 analysis
of January 6, 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) — It is the largest prosecution in DOJ history — with reams of evidence, harrowing videos, and hundreds of convictions of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Now Trump’s return to
power has thrown into question the future of the more than 1,500 federal cases
brought over the last four years.
January 6 trials, guilty pleas, and sentencings have
continued chugging along in Washington’s federal court despite Trump’s promise and action to pardon rioters, whom he has called “political prisoners and hostages” contending
that they were treated too harshly.
In a statement, AG
Merrick Garland said: “Justice
Department prosecutors have sought to hold accountable those criminally
responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting
integrity. They have conducted themselves in a manner that adheres to the rule
of law and honors our obligation to protect the civil rights and civil
liberties of everyone in this country.”
Here’s a look at where the
prosecutions stand on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot and what could
happen next:
Hundreds of
arrests, guilty pleas and prison sentences
More than 1,500 people across the U.S. have been charged
with federal crimes related to the deadly riot. Hundreds of people who did not engage in
destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for
entering the Capitol illegally.
Others were charged with felony offenses, including assault
for beating police officers. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys
extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors
described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
About 250 people have been convicted of crimes by a judge or a jury after a trial. Only two people were acquitted of all charges by judges after bench trials.
No jury has fully
acquitted a Capitol riot defendant.
At least 1,020 others had
pleaded guilty as of January 1. More than 1,000 rioters have already been
sentenced, with over 700 receiving at least some time behind bars.
The rest were given some
combination of probation, community service, home detention, or fines.
The longest sentence, 22 years, went to former Proud Boys
national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy
along with three lieutenants.
A California man with a history of political violence got 20
years in prison for repeatedly attacking police with flagpoles and other
makeshift weapons during the riot.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is serving an 18-year
prison sentence for seditious conspiracy and other offenses.
Dozens of cases
are still winding through the court
More than 100 January 6 defendants are scheduled to stand trial in 2025, while at least 168 riot defendants are set to be sentenced this year.
Authorities have continued making new arrests since Trump’s election victory. That includes people accused of assaulting police officers who were defending the Capitol.
Citing Trump’s pardon promise several defendants have sought to have their cases delayed with little success.
In denying one such
request, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was nominated to the bench by President
Ronald Reagan wrote: “This Court
recently had the occasion to discuss what effect the speculative possibility of
a presidential pardon has on the timetable for a pending criminal matter. In
short: little to none.”
One defendant who
convinced a judge to postpone his trial, William Pope, told the court: “The American people gave President Trump a
mandate to carry out the agenda he campaigned on, which includes ending the
January 6 prosecutions and pardoning those who exercised First Amendment rights
at the Capitol.”
Trump embraced the January 6 rioters on the campaign trail,
downplaying the violence that was broadcast on live TV and has been documented
extensively through video, testimony and other evidence in the federal cases.
Trump has vowed to begin
issuing pardons of January 6 rioters on his first day in office. He has said he
will look at individuals on a case-by-case basis, but he has not explained how
he will decide who receives such relief.
He has said: “There may be some exceptions — if somebody was
radical, crazy.”
But he has not ruled out pardons for people convicted of serious crimes, like assaulting police officers.
When confronted in a recent NBC News interview about the dozens of
people who have pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement, Trump responded: “Because they had no choice.”
In a letter to Trump, a lawyer for Tarrio urged the
president-elect to pardon the former Proud Boys leader, who was convicted of
seditious conspiracy.
Judges decry
efforts to rewrite the history of January 6
Many judges in Washington’s federal court have condemned the
depiction of the rioters as “political
prisoners, and some have raised alarm about the potential pardons.”
U.S. District Judge
Lamberth recently said in a statement when handing down a sentence: “No matter what ultimately becomes of the
Capital Riots cases already concluded and still pending, the true story of what
happened on January 6, 2021 will never change.”
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by
Trump, said: “It would be beyond
frustrating and disappointing if Trump hands out mass pardons to rioters.”
In another case, U.S.
District Judge Amit Mehta, nominated by President Barack Obama, alluded to the
prospect of a pardon for Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder convicted of
seditious conspiracy saying: “The
notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved of his actions is frightening and
ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country.”
My 2 Cents: This is an
excellent status report and well done by PBS.
The wheels of justice are
turning properly, but with prospect of more jail sentencing (cases outlined
above), I suspect Trump will dish out more pardons. Time will tell and we shall
see.
Thanks for stopping by.
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