Vice President-elect JD Vance just provided the clearest explanation yet of the Trump administration‘s plans to pardon Jan. 6 rioters, telling “Fox News Sunday” that while there’s “a little bit of a gray area there,” those who committed violence during the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack “obviously” shouldn’t be pardoned. Those who protested “peacefully,” however, can expect to have their records wiped clean.
“I think it’s very simple,” the former Ohio senator said. “If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
Vance’s comments provide a stark contrast to what President-elect Donald Trump has been saying over the past few months, with the future POTUS providing little to no details about who would get the pardons he’s been promising except declaring that protesters who assaulted Capitol police officers “had no choice” that day.
Such a strange feeling to agree with JD Vance.
I also feel that if you stood outside the building and peacefully protested, you shouldn’t be charged with a crime.
Unlike JD, I’m not willing to assume that the government wasted any time prosecuting innocent protestors, when there were so many guilty as sin insurrectionists who needed to be thrown in jail.
Of course, if they have any evidence of misconduct by prosecutors that didn’t get pulled from a magat ass, it should be considered.
Pretty sure all of the ones that were convicted were involved in more than peaceful protest. I don’t think there’s anyone currently in prison that meets Vance’s criteria for a pardon.