WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Vice President-elect says responsible for the violence during the 鈥渙bviously鈥� should not be , as President-elect is on behalf of many of those who tried on , to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.
Vance insisted in an interview on 鈥淔ox News Sunday鈥� that the pardon question is 鈥渧ery simple," saying those who 鈥減rotested peacefully鈥� should be pardoned and 鈥渋f you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn鈥檛 be pardoned.鈥� He later said there was a 鈥渂it of a gray area鈥� in some cases.
Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on 鈥淒ay 1鈥� of his presidency, which begins Jan. 20. 鈥淢ost likely, I鈥檒l do it very quickly,鈥� he said on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥� He added that 鈥渢hose 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.鈥�
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 running into hiding as they .
Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol. Others were charged with felony offenses, including assault for beating police officers. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the extremist groups were for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, the Republican incumbent, to Biden.
In a post on X, Vance responded to criticism from supporters of the Capitol rioters that his position did not go far enough to free all convicted. 鈥淚鈥檝e been defending these guys for years,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he president saying he鈥檒l look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback,鈥� . 鈥淚 assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial.鈥�
Associated Press, The Associated Press
