Defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are being released from prisons across the country after President Donald Trump issued sweeping pardons – and some have made their way to D.C.’s jail to await the release of inmates there.
About 20 people jailed for violent and non-violent offenses are expected to be released from the jail.
A few inmates had been released from the D.C. jail in Southeast by midday Tuesday, as a crowd of frustrated supporters awaited additional releases. Officials repeatedly said more inmates would be released soon.
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Chip Roy were outside the jail.
“Let our people go!” supporters chanted for hours as they watched the front door.
Members of the far-right group the Proud Boys were among those gathered outside the jail, after former leader Enrique Tarrio was released from prison. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes also was there, after he was released from prison in Pennsylvania.
“I think it’s a good day for America that all the wrongs are being undone. None of them should have been here in the first place,” Rhodes told News4.
Trump pardoned about 1,500 criminal defendants convicted of or accused of crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, including of people convicted of brutal assaults on officers at the U.S. Capitol. Trump commuted the sentences of 14 others. The president did not distinguish between violent and non-violent defendants, as some expected he would.
Supporters said hundreds of J6ers already have been released from dozens of prisons across the U.S.
“I went to bed thinking I’m gonna have commissary in the morning,” pardoned J6 inmate Kevin Loftus told News4.
He said he was released in Philadelphia at about 2 a.m. Tuesday and was helped by J6 supporters.
“There was cars and cars of people there to pick us up. It was amazing. It was just beautiful,” he said.
Both he and pardoned Philadelphia inmate William Sarsfield said they headed to D.C. to support those still inside the D.C. jail.
“We still have prisoners who are still locked up and it’s not fair,” Sarsfield said.
Retired Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6, told the I-Team the pardons left him feeling “betrayed and disgusted.”
Supporters said they don’t believe the court process was fair and if they had fair trials, they would never have been incarcerated.
Coordination between the jail, U.S. District Court and the U.S. Marshals Service is underway, officials said.
J6 supporters described a well-organized, well-financed national movement to get released inmates home. They said they had supporters at about 80 prisons across the U.S. ready with warm clothes, rides and even private planes to help defendants upon their release.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was outside the D.C. jail early Tuesday after President Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 defendants. News4’s Ted Oberg shows the scene there and explains what could be next.
Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Capitol riot. He used his clemency powers on his first day back in office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as lawmakers worked to affirm President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election. More than 140 officers were assaulted, including more than 80 U.S. Capitol police officers and more than 60 MPD officers, according to the outgoing U.S. attorney’s office for D.C. It was the largest investigation conducted by the FBI.
Attackers who beat police were armed with a long list of weapons, including: guns, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bike racks, batons, a metal whip, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, a tomahawk ax, a hatchet, a hockey stick, knuckle gloves, a baseball bat, a massive Trump billboard, Trump flags, a pitchfork, pieces of lumber, crutches and an explosive device.
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NBC News and the Associated Press contributed prior reporting.
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