DOJ moves to vacate convictions of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers from Jan. 6
The Justice Department on Tuesday requested that an appeals court vacate convictions for several former members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers extremist groups convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The request is for those who were previously not covered by President Donald Trump’s sweeping Day 1 clemency grants.
The filings from prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office briefly explain that the administration’s view is that it has no further interest in seeking to uphold the convictions.
Of the nearly 1,600 individuals who have faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, 608 individuals faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the complex that day, the office said.
Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the DOJ has said.
On the first day of his second term in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 individuals who were charged with or convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and issued blanket pardons for anyone at or near the Capitol that day.
Included in the pardons were more than 600 rioters convicted of assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement that day. When signing the order, Trump referred to the defendants as "hostages."
Trump’s pardon at the time did not explain why he was at least temporarily exempting convictions, with the exception of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was granted a full pardon.
Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after his conviction of seditious conspiracy, was being processed for release from his cell in Louisiana following Trump’s executive action.
Tarrio was notably sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment among all of the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the attack.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was among the lawmakers who were rushed from the House and Senate chambers and offices after rioters breached the Capitol, called Trump's order at the time "shameful."
Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, died the day after being attacked by rioters, told ABC News' Rachel Scott at the time that Trump's pardons were a "betrayal of decency."
