Experts worry that Trump's Jan. 6 pardons will legitimize political violence, embolden extremists

WASHINGTON — After President Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 Capitol rioters on Monday, far-right activists cheered the move and said it strengthened their loyalty to him. Some also borrowed from the president's own rhetoric, calling for retribution.

''We'll never forget, we'll never forgive. You can't get rid of us,'' a California chapter of the far-right Proud Boys posted on Telegram.

''You are on notice. This is not going to end well for you,'' read an X post from one pardoned rioter addressed to anyone still ''attempting to continue to hold my brethren hostage.''

Enrique Tarrio, the former national Proud Boys leader whose 22-year sentence on seditious conspiracy charges was pardoned by Trump, went on the podcast of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after his release.

''The people who did this, they need to feel the heat,'' Tarrio said. ''We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did.''

The pardons and rhetoric of retribution from some of those released this week is raising deep concern among attorneys, former federal investigators and experts who follow extremism. They worry that the indiscriminate release of everyone charged in the riots could embolden extremists and make political violence more common, including around contentious political issues such as border security and elections.

''This move doesn't just rewrite the narrative of January 6,'' said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. ''It sets a dangerous precedent that political violence is a legitimate tool in American democracy.''

"This going to build that base of support so when the next election cycle comes around ... there's the potential for Trump to hold onto power or to ensure his successor comes into office," Premo said.

Trump's sweeping clemency order on Monday delivered on a campaign promise for the rioters he frequently referred to as ''patriots'' and ''political prisoners.'' He pardoned or vowed to dismiss the cases of nearly everyone charged in the Jan. 6 riots. Fourteen defendants, including several convicted of seditious conspiracy, had their sentences commuted.

The order freed from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss.

It also pardoned rioters who had been convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and already served their terms. Among them is Jacob Chansley, who became widely recognized for the horned fur hat he wore during the riot. Chansley celebrated the news of his pardon with an expletive on the social platform X, ''NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHER ... GUNS!!!''

Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, said he tried and failed this week to obtain a protective order against those who assaulted him and have been let out of prison.

Because of the pardons, he and his family are left to fend for themselves. ''We have no recourse," he said, ''outside of buying a gun.''

Barb McQuade, a former U.S. attorney in Michigan who has written critically of Trump's messaging, said she worries the pardons of even violent offenders send a signal that ''political violence is acceptable when it's committed in service of the leader.''

Many of the pardoned rioters and others who organized events around Jan. 6 responded to the news with devotion to Trump.

''I would storm the Capitol again for Donald Trump,'' Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander, who helped organize rallies before the attack but was not charged with any crimes, said in a Telegram livestream the day after the pardons were announced. ''I would start a militia for Donald Trump. I dare say I'd— I would die for Donald Trump, obviously.''

Tarrio called Trump "the best president, I think, since George Washington.''

Tarrio wasn't in Washington when members of the Proud Boys joined the riot, having followed a judge's order to leave the city after being arrested on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally. During his sentencing, he called Jan. 6 a ''national embarrassment,'' apologizing to police officers and lawmakers and insisting he was done with politics.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who was found guilty of orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the Capitol, told reporters outside the District of Columbia jail on Tuesday that Jan. 6 should be remembered as ''Patriots' Day.''

''I'm only guilty of opposing those who are destroying the country,'' said Rhodes, whose 18-year sentence on seditious conspiracy charges was commuted by Trump. ''We stood up for our country because we knew the election was stolen. Biden did not get 81 million votes.''

The results of the 2020 election were affirmed by reviews, recounts and audits in all six of the battleground states where Trump disputed his loss. That included, Arizona and Georgia, which at the time had Republican governors and secretaries of state. Trump's own attorney general said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and an Associated Press review in the six states revealed there far too few cases of potential fraud to have any impact on the outcome.

Rhodes visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to advocate for the release of another defendant. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who was on the House committee that investigated the attack, questioned whether he and other defendants had been reformed by their shortened sentences.

Rhodes maintained Wednesday that he came to Washington to protest the election results in 2021, but didn't ''lead anything'' on Jan. 6 and does not bear responsibility for the riot. He did not enter the building that day and said other members of the Oath Keepers who did made a ''stupid'' decision, but weren't criminals.

Larry Rosenthal, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, said one marker of fascism throughout history has been the marriage of private militias with a political party. In fascist Italy, he said, such groups worked on behalf of the party in power to punish political enemies who wouldn't fall in line.

Rosenthal said that in light of Trump's pardons, militia groups already active at the U.S. southern border would likely seek the Trump administration's approval when his sweeping immigration enforcement plan gets underway.

The question, he said, is whether Trump's administration will bring them into the fold.

Asked Tuesday if there was room for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in his movement, Trump said, ''Well, we have to see. They've been given a pardon. I thought their sentences were ridiculous and excessive.''

Swenson reported from New York.

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