Former President Donald Trump has reiterated his intention to pardon those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot if he wins the upcoming presidential election in November.
“Oh, absolutely, I would. If they’re innocent, I would pardon them. They were convicted by a very tough system,” Trump stated during an event with the National Association of Black Journalists.
The January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol aimed to disrupt Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory, with rioters seeking to keep Trump in power. The violent clash resulted in injuries to over 140 police officers who were attempting to manage the situation.
When pressed about his stance on pardoning the rioters, Trump deflected by referencing recent protests that coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, falsely suggesting that those demonstrations had turned violent. However, law enforcement effectively contained that situation, preventing it from escalating.
“They viciously attacked our government, they fought with police, they fought with them much more openly than I saw on January 6,” Trump claimed.
ABC News reporter Rachel Scott asked Trump directly if he would pardon the January 6 rioters if elected. Instead of answering, Trump shifted the conversation to the incident involving Ashli Babbitt, a rioter shot and killed by a police officer as she attempted to breach the House Speaker’s Lobby while members of Congress were evacuating.
Trump emphasized that authorities pursued the January 6 protesters “with a vengeance.” He has consistently advocated for the roughly 600 convicted rioters, indicating at a CNN town hall in 2023 that he was “inclined to pardon many of them.”
