1500 January 6 rioters pardoned by Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has ordered the release of hundreds of January 6 prisoners, after pardoning 1500 people involved in the 2021 Capitol Riots.
The order requires the Bureau of Prisons to act immediately on receipt of the pardons.
“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Mr Trump said. “We’re expecting it.”
Only a few hundred remain behind bars.
Mr Trump has also commuted the sentences of 14 members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers organisations.
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy – the longest of any January 6 defendant – is expected to be released, his lawyer and mother have said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether those convicted of violent offences, such as assaulting police officers, were included in the pardons.
The issue was a major point of contention with Mr Trump’s base, with MAGA diehards demanding nothing less than full pardons for all.
Vice President JD Vance had previously been attacked by Trump supporters for saying “obviously” violent rioters should not be pardoned.
The Justice Department criminally charged 1575 people in connection to the Capitol riot.
The majority were misdemeanours for entering the Capitol without permission, but others were convicted of violent felonies.
As of August 2024, 562 rioters had been sentenced to time in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice.
Mr Trump’s order also directs the Attorney-General to drop all pending January 6 cases.
