Donald Trump pledged to dole out pardons to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters if he wins back the White House in 2024.
The announcement came during a lengthy Saturday evening address to a crowd of supporters in Conroe, Texas.
“If I run [in 2024] and I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly, and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly,” Trump stated.
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The twice impeached ex-president went on to rail against the House select committee tasked with investigating the happenings of that dark winter day.
“This hasn’t happened to all of the other atrocities that took place recently. Nothing like this has happened. What that ‘un-select’ committee is doing and what the people are doing that are running those prisons, it’s a disgrace,” Trump told the crowd. “It’s a disgrace.”
Among those currently behind bars for their actions in the storming of the Capitol include Edward Jacob Lang, a 25-year-old man from upstate New York who was charged with assaulting a police officer with a bat. Ryan Samsel, a 38-year-old Pennsylvania man, is charged with assaulting and leaving a Capitol police officer with a concussion.
Countless other Capitol rioters engaged in violence on Jan. 6, leaving 139 police officers assaulted in their wake.
To this day, a select group of pro-Trump rioters remain behind bars, with The New York Times reporting around 40 Jan 6 rioters are being held in a District of Columbia jail.
“We will treat them fairly, and we will take care of the people of this country,” Trump continued, “All of the people of this country.”
The far right quickly welcomed Trump’s pledge of pardons.
“Pardon and commute sentences! Due process,” far-right Jan 6 “Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander wrote on Telegram. “Thank you, Mr. President!”
“I’m so happy to hear President Trump say he will treat J6 defendants fairly and pardon them if needed,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) added. “America must have a fair justice system and we must protect due process.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Trump called for MAGA protests in metropolitan cities if prosecutors launch probes into his dealings.
“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protests we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere, because our country and our elections are corrupt,” he said.
The former president’s issuing of pardons to political allies has long been part of his playbook. Dating back to the end of his time in the White House, Trump issued a final hour frenzy of pardons to the likes of Steve Bannon and Lil Wayne.
