Internet slams Donald Trump as he vows to release jailed Jan 6 rioters in early moves if elected

WASHINGTON, DC: Former President Donald Trump announced one of his first actions as president, if he wins in November, would be to release the rioters imprisoned for attacking the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, reported The Hill.

"My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!" the GOP White House hopeful wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday, March 11.

Though Trump has often sympathized with his supporters convicted for the insurrection, this is the first time he has explicitly vowed their release as a Day One priority.

Speaking at a fundraiser event in New Jersey 2023 for the January 6 convicts, the ex-president had said he would consider pardoning some of them. In addition, on the third anniversary of the attack this year, he repeated the demand to President Joe Biden to release the defendants, labeling them as January 6 "hostages."

However, Trump's latest pledge contradicts some of his previous claims where he accused the FBI and Antifa of being responsible for the attack.

How many are imprisoned for the January 6 attack?

According to the Department of Justice, more than 1265 defendants have been arrested in almost all 50 states as of January 6, 2024, 36 months after the attack. Out of this, 452 defendants face charges of "assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees," and 123 of them are charged with using deadly or dangerous weapons or causing severe bodily injury to an officer.

"Approximately 749 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on January 6. Approximately 467 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration," says the DOJ report.

The January 6 insurrection, which is still widely regarded as a black mark on US democracy, stemmed from Trump's false claims of the 2020 election being rigged.

A mob of supporters, allegedly instigated by his frequent false claims of defeating Biden, violently clashed with the police and stormed the Capitol building to stop the joint session of the Congress from certifying Biden's 2020 victory.

The former president himself faces two federal indictments, in Washington, DC, and Georgia, over his attempts to overturn the election results.

Despite the legal battles, Trump is close to officially becoming the GOP nominee of the 2024 presidential election for a rematch with President Biden.

Internet slams Donald Trump

Netizens expressed outrage as the former president pledged to prioritize the release of January 6 rioters if he wins in November.

One user wrote, "Trump is a traitor."

"He’s literally offering clemency to convicted insurrectionists. How is that not a crime? How is it not treason?" another person questioned.

A third user added, "Of course this traitor and fraud would."

"That's a pretty stupid thing to say to get people to vote for you. You just lost more Republicans that didn't like what happened on January 6 th 2021. You just go ahead make up more lies about what your going to do. At the rate your going your losing your base too," a fourth response read.

Someone else opined, "He could’ve freed them before he left office, but of course, he was only worried about himself…"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.