Newly pardoned Jan. 6 defendants and supporters gathered Tuesday outside the D.C. Jail to celebrate the clemency granted by President Trump and to demand the speedy release of the remaining Jan. 6 prisoners.
For them, Mr. Trump’s pardon of all of the 1,500 people charged or convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot ended a penal nightmare.
William Sarsfield, 47, of Gun Barrel City, Texas, walked out of the Philadelphia jail as a free man at 3 a.m. Tuesday and then traveled to Washington to revel with Jan. 6 compatriots.
“I’m very blessed that President Trump kept his word to the American people,” he told The Washington Times.
Mr. Sarsfield was found guilty of a felony offense of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Now that’s behind him.
He said it was “unfathomable [that] there’s still people locked up” nearly a day after Mr. Trump signed the pardons.
For those who were awaiting trial, the Justice Department has begun to clear those cases.
That includes those such as Frederick Breitfelder, a 60-year-old Ohio man who was arrested on Thursday on allegations that he scuffled with police and at one point swung an ax handle at an officer who was trying to pepper spray protesters. It also includes Jorge Jose Fournier, who was arrested last week on allegations he breached the Capitol and sprayed an officer with a chemical irritant.
Federal prosecutors on Monday filed motions to dismiss both of those cases.
Across the U.S., people imprisoned for the Jan. 6 riot were being freed, including some of the most high-profile defendants involved in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of Joseph R. Biden’s presidential election win.
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia group, was released late Monday from a Maryland prison where he was serving 18 years for seditious conspiracy. He made his way to the D.C. jail that night.
“We’re here to welcome them,” Mr. Rhodes told News 4 Washington outside the D.C. Jail. “I think it’s a good day for America that all the wrongs are being undone. None of them should have been here in the first place.”
For many Democrats and other Trump critics, the pardons were an endorsement of lawlessness and political violence.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said the Jan. 6 pardons were “deeply un-American.”
“Let’s be clear. President Trump didn’t just pardon protesters. He pardoned some people convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy,” Mr. Schumer said.“It’s a betrayal of the highest order of our Capitol Police officers who risked their lives to keep us safe.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York accused Republicans of celebrating pardons for “a bloodthirsty mob that violently assaulted police officers.”
“What happened to backing the Blue,” Mr. Jeffries said in a statement. “Far-right extremists have become the party of lawlessness and disorder. Don’t ever lecture America again. About anything.”
Mr. Trump on Tuesday defended the pardons, saying the Jan. 6 defendants were victims of unequal justice.
He pointed to left-leaning district attorneys across the country who in other cases pursue light sentences for severe crimes.
“Murderers today aren’t even charged. You have murderers in this country that aren’t charged all over,” he told reporters at the White House. “Take a look at what’s gone on in Philadelphia. Take a look at what’s gone on in LA where people murder people and they don’t get charged.”
The president said the Jan. 6 protesters, on the other hand, served their terms in “inhumane” and “disgusting” prisons.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.