US President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance seem to be in a "bit of a grey area" over the future of the January 6 Capitol riot prisoners. While Trump has promised to use his clemency power on behalf of rioters who tried on January 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Joe Biden won, Vance believes that those responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot "obviously" should not be pardoned.
"I think it's very simple, look if you protested peacefully on January 6th, and you had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned," US Vice President-elect said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday".
"If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned. And there's a little bit of a grey area there," he added.
Vance, who will be sworn in as Vice President on January 20, said the incoming Trump administration is "very much committed" to seeing the equal administration of law, and "there are a lot of people we think in the wake of January 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that."
However, his stance on the future of January 6ers was criticised by supporters of the Capitol rioters. Later, responding to the criticism, he wrote on X, "I've been defending these guys for years."
"First of all, I donated to the to the J6 political prisoner fund and got ROASTED for it during my senate race. I've been defending these guys for years. Second, there were federal informants in the crowd. Do they get a pardon? I don't think so," he wrote while responding to podcasters duo Hodgetwins.
"The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback. I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial," he added.
Trump's Stance On The Issue
Donald Trump has pledged to issue pardons to rioters on "Day 1" of his presidency, which begins January 20. "Most likely, I'll do it very quickly," he said recently on NBC's "Meet the Press."
He added that "those 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."
January 6 Capitol Riot
Over 1,500 people were charged with federal crimes for the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory at the US Capitol.
People who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanour offences for illegally entering the Capitol. However, hundreds of others were charged with felony offences, including assault for beating police officers.
Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, the Republican incumbent, to Biden.
