Trump pardons 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, commutes the sentences of 14

January 20, 2025, is liberation day for virtually all of the January 6ers, to whom President Donald J. Trump issued “complete and unconditional” pardons for alleged Jan. 6 crimes. It was one of the major campaign pledges the president made and an opening shot against what he and many others call a weaponized justice system that persecuted his supporters.

“So this is January 6. These are the hostages,” Trump said from the Oval Office as he signed the pardon proclamation. “Approximately 1,500, for a pardon.”

The Oath Keepers, virtually all of whom were peaceful on Jan. 6, were singled out by Trump for sentence commutations instead of pardons, which Trump signed for more than 1,500 other people caught up in the U.S. Department of Justice prosecution machine.

Trump explained that the 14 cases singled out for commutation require further study, but they could also be changed to full pardons. “We are looking at different things, but the commutations would be the ones that we’ll take a look, and maybe it’ll stay that way or it’ll go to … a full pardon.

The commutations list includes eight Oath Keepers and one Oath Keepers associate who was tried alongside four Oath Keepers defendants in September 2022: Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, and Joseph Hackett.

The others on the commutations list include Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola, and Jeremy Bertino.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons began releasing Jan. 6 inmates shortly after Trump’s announcement.

American Patriot Relief had volunteers waiting at some 80 prisons to greet inmates as they were released. They reported that the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Forth Worth, Texas, was refusing to release Jalise Middleton, one of the charity’s founders, who was ordered to serve her prison sentence just before Christmas.

Although the commutations issue gave some J6ers concern, the release of the men was cause for joy.

Rex Ruth, the uncle of Oath Keepers founder Rhodes, leaned over and broke down in tears when his daughter Kyla Rosenau showed him a text saying Rhodes would be released, according to a video she shared with Blaze News.

Although Trump did not mention specifics on Jan. 6 pardons during his inaugural address at the Capitol, he broke the news during his inaugural parade and an Oval Office briefing.

“We won, but now the work begins,” Trump said at the indoor inaugural parade held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. “We have to bring them home. And tonight I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out. And as soon as I leave, I’m going to the Oval Office and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people. A lot of people.”

He wasn’t exaggerating.

Word began trickling out on X and other social media of the release of Jan. 6 inmates, including former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio.

“Prisons are walking J6 prisoners out everywhere,” Jan. 6 defense attorney Joseph McBride told Blaze News.

Trump also ordered the DOJ to seek dismissal with prejudice of all active Jan. 6 cases, including arrests made over the past week.