They assaulted police officers and crashed and trashed the People’s House — some in an effort to overturn a free and fair election — but now that Donald Trump is President and has granted a “full pardon” to about 1500 of them, some of the January 6 rioters and insurrectionists reportedly may get an invitation to the White House. Trump has repeatedly called them “hostages.”
CNN’s Alayna Treene reports (video below), “there have been discussions about having them come” to the White House for a visit “and a potential meeting with Donald Trump.”
“I’m told, according to two sources we’re familiar with, some of these discussions that essentially, some Trump administration officials have had discussions over potentially inviting the people that Donald Trump pardoned on Monday, the January sixth convicts,” she added.
Treene notes it is “unclear exactly who he’s thinking about, if it includes just the people he pardoned or also those who he commuted the sentences of, uh, including Oathkeepers , uh, and Proud Boys.”
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She stressed, “it’s unclear, um, if this is even going to happen, it is under consideration.”
According to the Washington Post, 14 of the January 6 defendants were convicted of seditious conspiracy. At least 379 were charged with assaulting police or the media — the vast majority of them have also been sentenced. 287 were charged with “less violent or nonviolent felonies.” Most of them have already been convicted. And 869 were charged with “misdemeanor counts such as trespassing or disorderly conduct.” The vast majority of them have also been sentenced.
About 140 law enforcement officers were injured on January 6, 2021.
“While Trump had long promised pardons for many, if not most, of those convicted of nonviolent crimes on Jan. 6,” NBC News reported, “he had been less clear about how he would handle those found guilty of violent offenses, including 169 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.”
“Trump decided to go about as far as he could, issuing roughly 1,500 pardons and commuting the sentences for 14 others.”
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On Tuesday, Trump “suggested there could be a place in American politics for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, extremist groups whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the U.S.,” the Associated Press reported.
Watch the video below or at this link.
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