'Man of his word': Jan 6 rioters expect Trump will keep pardon promise

The events of 6 January resulted in one of the largest federal investigations in US history. Nearly 600 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers.

Some of those who have been given the longest sentences, such as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, did not participate in the violence inside the building. Instead, they were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other felonies for organising the melee.

Arrests are still being made. In an update issued last week, the FBI said it is still looking for nine suspects wanted for violent assaults on police officers.

But with Trump - who still maintains, without evidence, that he was the winner of the 2020 election - coming back to the White House, the future of the investigation remains uncertain.

Citing Justice Department sources, NBC News reported that officials are focusing on trying the “most egregious” cases before Trump’s inauguration on 20 January.

In the meantime, several Capitol riot defendants have asked for hearings to be delayed in anticipation of pardons.

Among them are Christopher Carnell, a North Carolina man who was found guilty on several riot-related charges earlier in the year. His lawyers asked for a hearing to be delayed last week because of possible "clemency actions relevant to his case”, but the request was turned down.

Jonathanpeter Klein, who along with his brother Matthew pleaded guilty to several charges in July, asked for his sentencing hearing, scheduled for 15 November, to be delayed. That request too was turned down.

Wendy Via, co-founder of the not-for-profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), said that there is already a sense of excitement amongst rioters and their supporters.

“Folks on fringe sites are calling for the release of what they are calling the Jan 6 ‘prisoners of war’ or ‘hostages’,” she said.

They include Jake Lang, who is charged with a number of crimes including assaulting police officers, and who regularly posts online from his jail cell in New York.

After Trump’s victory he wrote on X: “IM COMING HOME!!!! THE JANUARY 6 POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE FINALLY COMING HOME!!!!”

“In just 75 days on January 20th 2025, when Donald J Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, he will pardon all of the J6 Hostages.”

GPAHE also found that some groups plan to lay low until Trump takes office and pardons are made official.

One post on a Proud Boys channel on Telegram suggested that members avoid the January inauguration: “Stay home or patronize your local watering hole and celebrate the inauguration of our President and the imminent release of our Boys.”

In a blog post, Via said pardons would “make a mockery of our justice system, and it will send the message to his followers that violence is a legitimate response to political outcomes they don’t like.”

For the moment, the release of everyone charged with riot-related offenses seems unlikely, but non-violent offenders such as Derrick Evans have called for large numbers to be freed.

And, he suggested, a pardon would not be enough to compensate him and others for the time they spent behind bars.

“I think there needs to be some reparations and restitution involved as well,” he said.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.