(Washington) Vice President-elect JD Vance said those responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump vows to use his clemency power in favor of many people who tried, on January 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Mr. Trump lost.
Mr. Vance insisted in an interview on the show Fox News Sunday on the fact that the question of pardon is “very simple”, affirming that those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned and that “if we committed violence that day, we obviously should not be pardoned”. He later acknowledged that there was a “gray area” in some cases.
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers into hiding as they gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
PHOTO TING SHEN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
J.D. Vance
Hundreds of people who did not commit destruction or violence have only been charged with minor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol.
Others have been charged with serious crimes, including assaulting police officers. Leaders of the extremist groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Mr. Trump, the outgoing Republican president, to Mr. Biden.
In a post on the social network “I have been defending these people for years,” he said.
“The president saying he will review every case (and me saying the same thing) is not a cop-out,” Mr. Vance said. I assure you that we care about those unjustly imprisoned. Yes, that includes people who were provoked and those who had a lousy trial. »
