Donald Trump: Right-wing extremist Capitol stormers walk out of prison (video)

Shortly after the new US President Donald Trump pardoned all perpetrators of the Capitol attack, the first convicts were released. The database of the US agency responsible for federal prisons shows that several prisoners were released on Monday – the day of Trump’s inauguration and the announcement of his pardon. More followed the next day.

Even those accused with particularly long prison sentences have now been released, such as the founder of the right-wing extremist group “Oath Keepers”, Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after the attack on the US Congress, among other things, for “seditious conspiracy”. This is a criminal offense that has only been used very rarely in the country’s judicial history. Rhodes and his co-defendants were accused of having forged a plot with the aim of using violence to prevent the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election.

The former leader of the right-wing extremist group “Proud Boys”, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, received the highest sentence in connection with the Capitol attack: 22 years in prison, also for “seditious conspiracy”. His mother wrote on Platform X that her son was also now free. She praised him as a noble patriot and called for him to be “built up” after his imprisonment.

Supporters of the then-elected President Trump violently stormed the headquarters of Parliament in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there that day to formally confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters during a speech with the false claim that massive election fraud had deprived him of a victory. As a result of the riots, five people died. The attack on the heart of US democracy shocked the country and continues to have an impact today.

Immediately after his return to power, Trump’s first official act on Monday was to pardon all those convicted at the time. He released the prison sentences of 14 convicts, who are now considered to have served their sentences. It’s about various members of the “Proud Boys” and “Oath Keepers”. For the rest of the more than 1,100 people convicted so far in connection with the Capitol attack, Trump issued sweeping and unconditional pardons and ordered them to be released “immediately.” He also ordered the Justice Department to close hundreds of pending criminal cases in the case.