WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s the largest prosecution in the Justice Department’s history — with reams of evidence, harrowing videos and hundreds of convictions of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now Donald Trump’s return to power has been called into question. the future of the more than 1,500 federal cases filed over the past four years.
Trials, guilty pleas and Jan. 6 sentencings continue in Washington federal court despite Trump’s promise to pardon rioters, whom he has called “political prisoners” and “hostages” he says have been treated too harshly.
Here’s a look at the state of prosecutions on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot and what could happen next:
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Hundreds of arrests, guilty verdicts and prison sentences
More than 1,500 people in the US have been charged with federal crimes related to the deadly riot. Hundreds of people who were not guilty of destruction or violence were only charged with misdemeanors for illegally entering the Capitol. Others were charged with crimes including assault for hitting police officers. Leaders of the extremist groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transition of power from Trump, a Republican, to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
About 250 people have been convicted of crimes by a judge or jury after a trial. Only two people were acquitted of all charges by judges after trials. No jury has fully acquitted a Capitol riot defendant. At least 1,020 others had pleaded guilty by January 1.
More than a thousand rioters have already been convicted, of which more than seven hundred have spent at least some time behind bars. The rest received a combination of probation, community service, house arrest or fines.
The longest sentence, 22 years, went to former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarriowho, together with three lieutenants, was convicted of seditious conspiracy. A California man with a history of political violence was jailed for 20 years for repeatedly attacking police with flagpoles and other makeshift weapons during the riot. And Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy and other crimes.
Dozens of cases are still pending in court
More than 100 January 6 defendants are expected to stand trial in 2025, while at least 168 riot defendants will be convicted this year.
Since Trump’s election victory, authorities have continued to make new arrests. That includes people accused of attacking police officers defending the Capitol.
Citing Trump’s promise to pardon, several defendants have tried to postpone their cases — with little success.
In denying such a request, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wrote: “This Court recently had the opportunity to discuss the effect the speculative possibility of a presidential pardon has on the timetable. for an ongoing criminal case. In short: little to none.”
One defendant who convinced a judge to postpone his trial, William Pope, told the court that “the American people have given President Trump a mandate to carry out the agenda he campaigned on, including ending the January 6 prosecutions and pardoning those who exercised the First Amendment. rights at the Capitol.” Pope has now asked the judge to allow him to travel to Washington to attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The scope of Trump’s possible pardon remains unclear
Trump embraced the Jan. 6 rioters during the campaign trial, downplaying the violence that was broadcast live on TV and has been extensively documented through video, testimony and other evidence in the federal cases.
Trump has pledged to begin pardoning the January 6 rioters on his first day in office. He has said he will consider individual cases on a case-by-case basis, but he has not explained how he will decide who receives such aid.
He has said that there could be “some exceptions” – if “someone was radical or crazy.” But he has not ruled out pardons for people convicted of serious crimes, such as assaulting police officers. When confronted in a recent NBC News interview about the dozens of people who have pleaded guilty to attacking law enforcement, Trump responded: “Because they had no choice.”
Judges denounce attempts to rewrite January 6 history
Many judges in Washington’s federal court have condemned the portrayal of the rioters as “political prisoners,” and some have raised alarm about the possible pardons.
“Whatever ultimately happens with the Capital Riots cases that have already been concluded and are still pending, the true story of what happened on January 6, 2021 will never change,” Judge Lamberth said recently in a statement upon sentencing. a verdict.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who Trump nominated to the court, has said it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump were to issue mass pardons to rioters.
In another case, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta hinted at the prospect of a pardon for Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder convicted of seditious conspiracy.
“The idea that Stewart Rhodes could be exonerated of his actions is frightening and should be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” said Mehta, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege.
