By Tim Reid
CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (Reuters) – Donald Trump said Friday that his supporters prosecuted for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol should be released, citing a Supreme Court ruling in favor of a man who fought an obstruction charge related to the riot — a charge that Trump also faces.
At a campaign rally in Virginia, the former president referenced Friday’s ruling, which raised the legal bar for prosecutors pursuing federal election obstruction charges in the case of Trump and the defendants involved in the attack.
“Release the January 6th hostages now. They should release them now for what they went through,” Trump said as the crowd cheered.
“They’ve been waiting a long time for this decision,” Trump added.
Trump is the Republican candidate challenging the Democratic Party President Joe Biden in the November 5 US elections.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to reject a lower court’s decision that had allowed a charge of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding — the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump that the rioters were trying to prevent — to be brought against defendant Joseph Fischer, a former police officer. The justices ordered the lower court to reconsider the case.
The ruling was a potential boost for Trump, who was facing two obstruction-related charges as part of a four-count criminal indictment in a case brought last year by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
“That’s a great thing for people who have been treated so terribly,” Trump said of the ruling.
Trump has often valorized his supporters convicted for their role in the attack on the Capitol, calling them “patriots” and “warriors.” Some of them were prosecuted for, among other things, violence against police officers.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Monday on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution in the election subversion case brought by the special counsel. It is the last day of the court’s current term.
(Reporting by Tim Reid, Kanishka Singh and Nathan Layne; Editing by Leslie Adler and Will Dunham)
