United States | Capitol offences

Will Donald Trump now pardon the January 6th rioters?

He has the power to do so, but it would be another norm-smashing act

Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
Photograph: Getty Images
|ATLANTA

Many Americans hope that Donald Trump will fulfil his campaign pledges to bring down prices and deport illegal immigrants. But a small group of convicted rioters are on tenterhooks over another electioneering promise. Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to free his supporters who were imprisoned for storming the Capitol on January 6th 2021. He has repeatedly called them “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots” while recasting the attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as “a day of love”. “Why are they still being held?” Mr Trump mused weeks before the election. His return to the White House means he could soon pardon them all.

Explore more

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Capitol offences”

From the November 23rd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
 Policemen arrest student during students and pro-Palestine activists protest.

Donald Trump wants to deport foreign students merely for what they say

He says his power over immigration overrides the First Amendment

President Trump Holds "Make America Wealthy Again Event" In White House Rose Garden.

With tariffs paused, Republicans dodge a fight with Trump

Many are reluctant to challenge the president absent deep economic pain


Donald Trump juggling with the globe on his golf stick.

The unbearable lightness of being Donald Trump

His trade war will test his trademark indifference to charges of incompetence and sowing chaos


DOGE is coming for American officials’ magnetic tape

But more modern methods of data storage are not necessarily better

How Alex Ovechkin topped Wayne Gretzky’s once-unbreakable record

As our charts show, the Russian machine defies both his age and his era

Texas looks set to pass America’s biggest school-voucher scheme

Evidence from other states suggests pupils will do worse as a result