Stuart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, who received some of the longest sentences in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots, have been released from prison.
Two major far-right figures in the United States have been released from prison, just hours after President Donald Trump was released He issued a pardon For more than 1,500 people charged for their involvement in the riot that occurred at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, was released on Tuesday, his lawyer said. It was convicted Up to 22 years in prison.
Stuart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia, was also released shortly after midnight Tuesday in Cumberland, Maryland. Trump commuted his sentence to 18 years in prison.
Rhodes and Tarrio were the most prominent defendants in the January 6 events and received some of the harshest sentences in the Justice Department’s years-long effort to investigate the insurrection at the US Capitol.
Trump had He promised pardon He is charged in connection with the events of that day, when a mob of his supporters stormed the US legislature to try to prevent Congress from certifying his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump repeated false claims that the election was stolen from him in the weeks before the riot. He also urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and “stop the steal” during the protests march Shortly before the attack began.
It was Rhodes convicted in 2023 after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, a rare charge alleging that the defendant planned to undermine or attack the authority of the U.S. government.
Prosecutors Rhodes charged To direct members of the Oath Keepers to attack the US Capitol. Rhodes denied any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of politically motivated persecution.
“For decades, Mr. Rhodes, it has been clear that you wanted this country’s democracy to turn violent,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said in handing down the sentence.
“The moment you are released, no matter what happens, you will be ready to take up arms against your government.”
For his part, Tarrio was convicted of several charges, including seditious conspiracy. While Tarrio was not in Washington, D.C., during the storming of the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors said he organized and wave The Proud Boys who were there that day were attacked.
In a statement confirming Tarrio’s release from prison, his family said he was expected to arrive in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon.
“Thank you for being with us, the golden age has arrived!” The statement echoed Trump’s call for a “golden era” under his presidency.
Within hours of taking office on Monday, Trump granted pardons to all those charged in connection with the riot. He pardoned more than 1,500 people and commuted the sentences of 14 others.
The move “ends a grave national injustice committed against the American people over the past four years and begins the process of national reconciliation.” Trump said In an announcement posted on the White House website.
Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, was assaulted during the riot and died of multiple strokes the next day, called Trump “pure evil” on Tuesday.
He told Reuters news agency: “The man who killed my brother is now president.”
“My brother died in vain. Everything he did to try to protect the country, protect the Capitol — why did he care?” “What Trump did is despicable, and it proves that the United States no longer has a semblance of a judicial system,” Sicknick said.
Michael Fanone, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer who was seriously injured during the riot, also expressed anger that the six people who assaulted him that day were released.
“My country betrayed me,” he told CNN on Monday.
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