The pardon debate in the US has intensified after US Vice President-elect JD Vance said that individuals responsible for violence during the January 6 Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned. However, President-elect Donald Trump has promised to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who were involved in the January 6 riots.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Vance insisted that the pardon question is “very simple,” saying those who indulged in peaceful protests should be pardoned, adding, “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” However, he said there was a “bit of a grey area” in some cases.
Vance faces backlash over his comments
However, Vance faced backlash on social media after his comments that reportedly did not go far enough to free all the convicted. In a post on X, Vance responded to the criticism around the matter, saying, “I’ve been defending these guys for years.”
He added, “The president saying he’ll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walk back,” Vance said. “I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked, and it includes people who got a garbage trial.
Earlier, Trump had said that he would issue pardons to rioters on Day 1 of his presidency, beginning January 20.
“Most likely, I’ll do it very quickly,” he said recently on NBC’s Meet the Press. He added that “those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look. But, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy”.
What happened on January 6, 2021?
Following Joe Biden’s election victory in 2021, protests broke out in the US at Capitol Hill, and more than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes. The protests resulted in injuring more than 100 police officers and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanour offences for illegally entering the Capitol.
Others were charged with felony offences, including assault for beating police officers. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, the Republican incumbent, to Biden.
(With AP inputs)
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