Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots was “un-American.”
Schumer told reporters Tuesday that the pardons were “deeply un-American,” noting that some of those pardoned were convicted for crimes like seditious conspiracy.
“There is no other way to describe President Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6th defenders than un-American,” Schumer said. “It is so deeply un-American to do that, to pardon. And let’s be clear, President Trump didn’t just pardon protesters. He pardoned individuals convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy. And he pardoned those who attempted to undermine our democracy.”
Trump signed pardons Monday evening for approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged with crimes stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol, keeping a vow he made in December to move quickly and pardon them.
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President Donald Trump signs pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Additionally, he commuted the sentences of six people on Monday, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups.
Schumer echoed sentiments former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shared about the pardons. Pelosi characterized the pardons as “shameful” and said to remember the “courage” of law enforcement “heroes” who “ensured that democracy survived.”
“The President’s actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution,” Pelosi, who didn’t attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, said in a statement posted to X.
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In addition to the pardons, President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of six people on Jan. 20, 2025, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
“It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Pelosi wrote.
Rioters assaulted approximately 140 police officers from both the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the Justice Department reported.
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President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it at an indoor inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Trump announced plans to issue the pardon on Monday, labeling those charged with crimes for their involvement in storming the Capitol as “hostages.”
“Tonight I’m going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out,” Trump said at an inaugural parade at Capital One Arena. “I’m going to the Oval Office, and we’ll be signing pardons for a lot of people.”
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Trump signed a series of executive orders on Inauguration Day, along with the pardons. Other directives included withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement that the U.S. initially entered under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015, but that Trump withdrew from during his first term.