The incoming vice president says violent rioters on January 6 should not be part of Trump’s pardon

US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said on Sunday that it was “clear” that people responsible for the violence that occurred during the Capitol riot should not be pardoned.

President-elect Donald Trump promises to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on January 6, 2021 to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.

In an interview on fox news sunday, Vance said the pardon issue was “very simple,” saying those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned and “if you committed acts of violence that day, obviously you should not be pardoned.” He later said there was a “little gray area” in some cases.

Trump said he would pardon the rioters on “Day One” of his presidency, which begins on January 20. “I’ll probably do it pretty quickly,” he said recently on an NBC show. Learn about journalism.

“These people have suffered long and hard. There may be some exceptions to that,” he added. “I’d have to look. But, you know, if someone’s extreme, or crazy.”

Watch | A reporter follows the January 6 protester who asked her to “escape”:

A reporter tracks down the January 6 protester who asked her to “escape”

On January 6, 2021, a CBC News crew who was working near Capitol Hill was overrun by an angry mob of Donald Trump supporters. Nearly four years later, reporter Katie Nicholson tracked down one of the people who surrounded her that day to find out what she was thinking ahead of another volatile US presidential election.

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that injured more than 100 police officers and sent lawmakers into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

Hundreds of people who did not participate in the destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor crimes for illegally entering the Capitol. Others were charged with criminal offences, including assaulting police officers. Leaders of two extremist groups, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transition of power from Trump 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 release all those convicted. “I’ve been advocating for these people for years,” he said.

“The president saying he will look into every case (and I say the same thing) does not represent a retreat,” Vance said. “I assure you that we care about people who are wrongfully detained. Yes, that includes people who have been provoked, and that includes people who have had a bad trial.”