President Donald Trump pardoned nearly all of the defendants on Monday evening, after pledging during his inaugural parade to sign an executive order on the matter.
Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump signed his signature releasing more than 1,500 crime suspects as a result of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The order requires the Federal Bureau of Prisons to act immediately upon receipt of the pardon.
“Tonight I’m going to sign the J6 hostages pardon to get them out,” Trump said during the parade at Capital One Arena in Washington. “I’m going to the Oval Office and we’re going to sign pardons for a lot of people.”
Those pardoned include former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was given a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy. Tarrio’s attorney told the Associated Press that he expects Tarrio to be released Monday evening.
Trump previously promised that on his first day in office he would “act very quickly” to pardon the so-called “hostages.”
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor presidential inauguration parade in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.called Trump’s pardon “shameful” and said he remembered the “courage” of law enforcement heroes who “ensured democracy’s survival.”
“The president’s actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma while protecting the Capitol, Congress and the Constitution,” said Pelosi, who did not attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday , in a statement. posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It is shameful that the president has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who risked their lives in an effort to undermine the peaceful transfer of power,” Pelosi said .
The pardon was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump was expected to sign Inauguration Day. Other directives he signed on Monday include the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, which the U.S. initially entered into in 2015 under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Trump previously withdrew the US from the accord during his first term in 2020.
TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE
The pardon was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump was expected to sign on Inauguration Day. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)
On Monday morning, then-President Joe Biden has issued a series of pardons just hours before Trump takes the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol. Those pardoned by Biden include former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump has accused of committing treason. Others Biden pardoned were those involved in the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation, which conducted an inquiry into the attack.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
President Donald Trump previously vowed on his first day in office that he would “act very quickly” to pardon the so-called “hostages.” (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
“The granting of this pardon should not be mistaken as an admission that any individual has committed wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any crime,” Biden said in a statement. “Our nation owes these officials a debt of gratitude for their tireless service to our country.”
Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman of Fox News contributed to this report.
