Received Condolence, Hundreds Of Trump Supporters Who Were Imprisoned For Riots January 6 Freed

JAKARTA - Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters were released from prison on Tuesday, after serving a prison sentence for riots on Capitol Hill, the newly appointed president dismissed more than 1,500 people.

The riot was when Trump's supporters stormed Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 to prevent the United States Congress from passing Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 general election.

The US Federal Prison Bureau said about 211 people had been released from federal facilities following President Trump's order.

President Trump ordered pardons for all those charged in the attack. About 140 police officers were injured in the tantrum, which made lawmakers run for their lives.

President Trump's order was extended from people who only committed minor offenses such as entry without permission until those who were the masterminds of the attack.

Among those released was Stewart Rhodes, a former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, who had been sentenced 18 years after being found guilty of planning to use violence to prevent Congress from certifying Trump's 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.

"This is a redeem, but also a justification," Rhodes told reporters outside Washington DC prison, where a crowd of Trump supporters awaits more prisoners being released.

Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on January 6, said he had no regrets and still believed Trump's false claims he lost the election to fraud.

Rhodes was released earlier that day from a separate facility in Cumberland, Maryland, after Trump eased his sentence.

Another figure released was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right group Proud Boys. He was not present at the Capitol at the time, but was sentenced to 22 years, longer than the other defendants, after he was found guilty of a conspiracy inciting his role in planning the attack.

Trump's thorough pardon is further than his allies had hoped that it would draw criticism from police fighting the masses, families, and members of parliament, including several Republican colleagues.

The majority of Americans did not agree to Trump's decision, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents in a two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted immediately after Trump took office on Monday, said he should not have forgiven all defendants on the Capitol.

The decision was also criticized by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the US's largest police union that has supported Trump in the 2024 election. The FOP and the International Police Chief Association said in a joint statement they were "deeply disappointed" by the pardon.

Meanwhile, Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was attacked during the riots and died of several strokes the next day, calling Trump "crime" on Tuesday.

"The person who killed my brother is now president," he told Reuters.

"My brother died in vain. Everything he did was to try to protect the country, to protect the Capitol - why did he bother?" said Sicknick. "What Trump did was despicable, and it proves that the United States no longer has anything that resembles a justice system."

One of Trump's Republican counterparts, Senator Thom Tillis said pardoning rioters who attacked the police was the wrong message.

"I saw pictures today in my news clip about the people who destroyed the police officers. Neither of them was supposed to get forgiveness," Tillis told Reuters.

"You make this place less secure if you send a signal that police officers have the potential to be attacked and there are no consequences."

Others welcomed Trump's decision. Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert said he would offer the Capitol tour to the defendants after they were released.

Separately, White House spokeswoman Leavitt defended the pardon, claiming without evidence, many of the sentences were politically motivated.

"President Trump campaigned for this promise," he said at Fox News.

"It's no surprise that he kept it on the first day," he said.

It is known that more than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty rather than being tried, including 327 who pleaded guilty to crimes, according to Justice Department statistics.

A protester, Ashli Babbitt, was shot dead by police during the January 6 riots as he tried to force him into the DPR room. Four officers who responded that day later died of suicide.