| Backs Capitol rioters in latest speech | Decides to run for next Presidential elections
Foreign Desk Report
Washington: Former U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday if he were to run for president and win in 2024, he would pardon people charged with criminal offenses in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 assault by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump, who has not said whether he will run for president again after his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election, was speaking at a rally in Conroe, Texas.
“Another thing we’ll do, and so many people have been asking me about it, if I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” Trump said to applause. “We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly.”
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the worst assault on Congress since the War of 1812. Fueled by Trump’s false claims that his November 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud, the attackers sought to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
One police officer who responded to the scene died the day after the attack, while four others who guarded the Capitol died later by suicide. About 140 police officers were injured during the hours-long attack. Four rioters also died. More than 700 people have been charged with joining in the assault.
Agencies add: Donald Trump pledged to dole out pardons to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters if he wins back the White House in 2024.
The announcement came during a lengthy Saturday evening address to a crowd of supporters in Conroe, Texas.
“If I run [in 2024] and I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly, we will treat them fairly, and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly,” Trump stated.
The twice impeached ex-president went on to rail against the House select committee tasked with investigating the happenings of that dark winter day.
“This hasn’t happened to all of the other atrocities that took place recently. Nothing like this has happened. What that ‘unselect’ committee is doing and what the people are doing that are running those prisons, it’s a disgrace,” Trump told the crowd. “It’s a disgrace.”
Among those currently behind bars for their actions in the storming of the Capitol include Edward Jacob Lang, a 25-year-old man from upstate New York who was charged with assaulting a police officer with a bat. Ryan Samsel, a 38-year-old Pennsylvania man, is charged with assaulting and leaving a Capitol police officer with a concussion.
Countless other Capitol rioters engaged in violence on Jan. 6, leaving 139 police officers assaulted in their wake.
To this day, a select group of pro-Trump rioters remain behind bars, with The New York Times reporting around 40 Jan 6 rioters are being held in a District of Columbia jail.
“We will treat them fairly, and we will take care of the people of this country,” Trump continued, “All of the people of this country.”
The far right quickly welcomed Trump’s pledge of pardons.
“Pardon and commute sentences! Due process,” far-right Jan 6 “Stop the Steal” leader Ali Alexander wrote on Telegram. “Thank you, Mr. President!”
The former president’s issuing of pardons to political allies has long been part of his playbook. Dating back to the end of his time in the White House, Trump issued a final hour frenzy of pardons to the likes of Steve Bannon and Lil Wayne.
