With just over a week until Donald Trump’s inauguration, speculation has been building for months about who might receive pardons related to the January 6 protests.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has weighed in, criticizing what he calls a politically motivated justice system and providing insight into how the administration may approach decisions on granting pardons.
More from Fox News:
“If you protested peacefully on January 6th, and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance told Fox News’ Shannon Bream during an exclusive one-on-one interview that aired Sunday.
“If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned, and there’s a little bit of a gray area there, but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law. And there are a lot of people, we think, in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.”
You can see the full answer here:
JD Vance makes it official.
Those who committed violent acts on January 6th will not be pardoned.
pic.twitter.com/EogcXWILZN— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 12, 2025
Some conservatives online have expressed frustration, arguing that blanket pardons should be issued:
Video gets released of cops shooting innocent J6 protesters and @JDVance goes on Fox News and tells the world that only non violent protesters should get pardoned
Better rethink what you just said JD https://t.co/HOscppr529
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) January 12, 2025
In response, JD Vance addressed some of his critics, reminding them of his contributions to J6 defense funds:
First of all, I donated to the to the J6 political prisoner fund and got ROASTED for it during my senate race. I've been defending these guys for years.
Second, there were federal informants in the crowd. Do they get a pardon? I don't think so. The president saying he'll look at… https://t.co/MDUWkd37fP
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 12, 2025
However, criticism persisted, with many calling for broader pardons for all rally attendees:
My view is ALL the Jan 6 prosecutions by the corrupt Biden Justice Dept were tainted by politics and other abuses.
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 12, 2025
Not a single convicted J6er got a fair trial in DC.
The fact that the Supreme Court had to step in and remove the 1512 charge says it all.
All the feds need to be locked up, but all J6ers must be freed. Their prosecutions are a stain on our justice system. pic.twitter.com/oVEWNCejNZ
— George (@BehizyTweets) January 12, 2025
As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches, I believe the debate over pardons for January 6 protesters will set the tone for his presidency and reveal his administration’s priorities in addressing these past election issues.
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Comments
Blanket pardons.
All must be pardoned
All
We will accept nothing less
Issuing a pardon for the 99%+ of nonviolent folks who did nothing but enter the grounds (often invited by Capital Police) is absolutely necessary. These folks did not commit any real offense worthy of prosecution. The DoJ was, IMO, vindictive and malicious in going after them.
That said the remaining 1% that day may or may not deserves pardon. IMO, a blanket pardon for the remaining 1% of those involved on J6 is not a good idea. Their cases need to be evaluated and if deserving issue a pardon but in the very few fraction of instances where a pardon isn’t deserving it shouldn’t be issued.
If and only if they can sort through the cases in a matter of days or weeks, not years. We’re talking over a thousand political prisoners. Justice delayed is justice denied.
BS
The violence was on the capital police side and the fbi, NOT the civil protesters
They were being clubbed, shot and hit with batons for God sakes
You have a right to fight back and the police murdered 2 women
2 women
The remaining 1% did what, exactly? Broke windows, yelled nasty things, pushed police officers? Some of these folks have been incarcerated for 4 years; NONE of the potential charges would have carried a 4 year sentence in a normal trial.
And every bit of this “justice” is fatally tainted by the kangaroo nature of these trials. Not one single prosecution should be upheld, even if someone IS guilty of some minor riotous behavior.
Correct: there is petty violence and then serious violence.
For those who committed petty acts of violence: either pardon or commute their sentence to time served.
For the very, very few who committed more significant acts of violence: careful, individualized review.
For the life of me I can’t understand what some on our side have against nuance and the careful weighing of the facts.
“JD Vance makes it official.
Those who committed violent acts on January 6th will not be pardoned.”
Given that Biden will probably overlook pardoning the killer of Ashley Babbitt, maybe she can finally get some justice.
Pardon them all and give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to each them!! Make it mean something again!
I would definitely support the Medal of Freedom to one Jacob Chansley, who should of course receive the honor wearing his buffalo hat.
I actually think this is going to make the political fallout worse.
Biden so abused and destroyed the pardons that he’s effectively given cover to Trump, and that’s BEFORE he issues a thousand preemptive pardons to his for left cronies.
I think the smart way to do this is say that you would like to sort through everybody and separate real criminals from those just trying to exercise their right to protest, but the Biden sham abuse of the DoJ and absolute destruction of any kind of actual rational due process, and their rampant and ridiculous overcharging at every level, has made it i.possible for any kind of objective assessment, so the only solution is a blanket pardon, and if you have a problem with that, then whine to the leftist DoJ about trying to give people 10+ years for walking in an open door for a few minutes and leaving.
Because now, by saying they’re going to evaluate and assess, they’re putting all the blame on themselves for pardoning ‘violent’ ones (and make no mistake, the left will simply lie and make crap up to declare ANYBODY ‘violent’), or alternately, pissing off his base by NOT pardoning people they think deserved it.
I think a blanket pardon, done with the emphasis of blame on the corrupt abuse of the DoJ, has far less potential fallout.
Just my 2c
From the get go the press and congress have lied about and exaggerated violence done by the protesters. Not a peep about violence done TO the protesters whenever they could get away with it, the two deaths being impossible to ignore. The one video of the guy with a hole in his face from “sublethal munitions” shows a hole not just in that guys face, but in the story spoon-fed to the public.
Remember the video of southern bully-boy cops beating with clubs and knocking over civil rights protestors with high-powered water hoses?
Remember the impact that had on the conscience of the nation?
The president, Congress and the press fought tooth and nail to prevent public viewing of video of the entirety of the events of Jan 6, only releasing carefully selected and edited bits. Now imagine if congress and the press had successfully colluded to hide and censor those videos so as to hide the brutality and just who were the Bad Guys in that conflict.
The civil rights acts of 196x might also have never seen the light of day.
Drop further investigation or prosecution of protesters, if you can’t make a case in 4 years you don’t have a good case. Pardon anyone who’s worse offense realistically is trespass.
And investigate and prosecute anyone who violated the law under authority of office, to include uniform police and those who ordered them to break the law.
Oh, do that last bit fast before the statute of limitations kicks in.
Maybe let them do what they will before going marbles over what has not happened. Best, however, to leave an opening to allow for actual justice.
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