Trump pardoned over 1,500 people involved in the 2021 Capitol attack

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump pardoned over 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the Capitol riot four years ago because he did not want to admit electoral defeat.

Fourteen members of the "Proud Boys" and "Oath Keepers", two far-right groups, are among those whose sentences were commuted by the new Republican president when he took office on Monday.

Trump also signed an order directing the Department of Justice to halt all pending cases against suspects accused of rioting in the Capitol.

The executive action followed shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States inside the Capitol.

During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Monday evening, Trump showed a list of names of those accused of rioting in the Capitol, stating they were receiving pardons.

"These are hostages, about 1,500 for pardons, full pardons. This is big," he said.

He added that "these people have been destroyed" and that it was "rarely the case in American history".

The proclamation states that it "ends a grave national injustice that has been done to the American people over the past four years and begins the process of national reconciliation".

According to Department of Justice data released earlier this month, approximately 1,583 people have been charged in the riots.

More than 600 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement, including about 175 accused of using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer.

Capitol Police officers were attacked with weapons including metal batons, wooden planks, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, and pepper spray.

Among the 14 defendants whose sentences were commuted, meaning they will be released but their convictions will remain on record, is Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, led a contingent of his members to Washington.

Rhodes did not enter the Capitol but directed his members from outside, and in 2023 was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Trump issued "full and unconditional pardons" to all others involved in the riots.

Among them is former Proud Boys leader Henry Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.

Democrats quickly condemned the move as an attempt to rewrite history.