Deep dive
The Jan 6 Pardons
On his first day back in office, Donald Trump issued Proclamation 10887 — full pardons for roughly 1,500 January 6 defendants and commutations for 14 more. This is the complete record: what the proclamation did, who it freed, and what happened next.
Last verified October 5, 2026. Status: Documented — every claim below links to its source. Where the record is thin, we say so. Browse all sources in the Bibliography.
The bottom line
Pardon count is approximate — press reporting said "roughly 1,500"; analysts put the real figure closer to 1,600. No DOJ-certified recipient count has been published.
What Proclamation 10887 did
Signed January 20, 2025 — the first day of Trump's second term — and titled "Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021," the proclamation was published in the Federal Register on January 29, 2025 as document 2025-01950. The White House published the full text the same day it was signed.
It did three things:
- Commuted the sentences of 14 named individuals to time served as of January 20, 2025.
- Granted a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of January 6-related offenses.
- Directed the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice of all pending January 6 indictments, and ordered the Bureau of Prisons to implement DOJ's release instructions.
While signing, Trump called the defendants "hostages": "So, this is January 6. These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon … This is a big one." (NBC News, via Police1) He also said there were "about six commutations in there" — the proclamation actually listed 14. Administration of the pardons — including issuance of certificates — falls to the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney. The text is also preserved at the American Presidency Project, and the legal analysis is covered by CRS Legal Sidebar LSB11294.
Who was pardoned: violent vs. nonviolent
An important caveat first: DOJ never published a violent-vs.-nonviolent breakdown of the pardoned population specifically. The figures below are DOJ's prosecution statistics for the charged population, which the pardons mapped onto almost exactly, since clemency was near-universal. Analyst estimates are labeled as such.
- ~608 defendants were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement, or obstructing officers during a civil disorder — including ~174 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. (Just Security, summarizing DOJ)
- 172 pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement; 69 pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous or deadly weapon; another 130 pleaded guilty to obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder.
- Just Security's analysis: the number of pardoned defendants who attacked law enforcement officers is "easily north of 241." (Analyst estimate, not a DOJ count.)
- ~682 defendants pleaded guilty only to misdemeanors — typically trespassing or parading-type offenses — out of ~1,009 total guilty pleas. (DOJ, archived Jan. 6, 2025)
- The attack itself injured more than 140 police officers. (NPR, Jan. 20, 2025)
Before the pardons, both the Vice President-elect and the House Speaker drew a line the proclamation did not. J.D. Vance said in January 2025: "If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned." Speaker Mike Johnson said on Meet the Press (Jan. 19, 2025): "peaceful protesters should be pardoned, but violent criminals should not." The proclamation pardoned violent offenders anyway. (Just Security; NPR/WCLK)
Notable cases
| Name | Conviction | Sentence | Clemency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enrique Tarrio (Proud Boys chairman) | Seditious conspiracy for planning the riot — not present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 | 22 years — longest Jan. 6 sentence | Full pardon |
| Stewart Rhodes (Oath Keepers founder) | Seditious conspiracy; plotted to use force to prevent certification; stockpiled firearms at a Virginia hotel | 18 years; judge called him "an ongoing threat and peril to this country" | Commuted to time served |
| Joseph Biggs (Proud Boys leader) | Seditious conspiracy; marched ~200 people toward the Capitol | 17 years | Commuted to time served |
| Ethan Nordean (Proud Boys leader) | Seditious conspiracy | 18 years | Commuted to time served |
| Zachary Rehl (Proud Boys leader) | Seditious conspiracy | 15 years | Commuted to time served |
| Dominic Pezzola (Proud Boy) | Acquitted of seditious conspiracy; convicted of assault and other charges — first rioter to breach the building | 10 years | Commuted to time served |
| David Dempsey | Pleaded guilty to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon — pepper spray, poles, kicked shields; prosecutors called him "political violence personified" | 20 years | Full pardon |
| Daniel Rodriguez | Pleaded guilty to tasing MPD Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury | 12+ years | Full pardon |
| Peter Schwartz | Attacked officers with a chemical irritant; convicted on 9 of 11 counts | 14 years | Full pardon — arrested again in Texas in 2026 on gun and drug charges (see timeline) |
| Julian Khater | Pleaded guilty to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon — pepper-sprayed USCP Officer Brian Sicknick | ~6.7 years (80 months) | Full pardon |
Sources: Just Security; NPR; Reuters factbox.
The 14 commutations
All 14 are Oath Keepers or Proud Boys — 9 and 5 respectively. Ten of the 14 were convicted of seditious conspiracy, the gravest charge used in the prosecutions. Their sentences were commuted to time served as of January 20, 2025.
| # | Name | Group | Sentence commuted | Key conviction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stewart Rhodes | Oath Keepers (founder) | 18 years | Seditious conspiracy + other felonies |
| 2 | Kelly Meggs | Oath Keepers (Florida chapter head) | 12 years | Seditious conspiracy + other crimes |
| 3 | Kenneth Harrelson | Oath Keepers | 4 years | Obstruction; acquitted of seditious conspiracy |
| 4 | Thomas Caldwell | Oath Keepers | Time served (trial) | Obstruction, evidence tampering; acquitted of seditious conspiracy |
| 5 | Jessica Watkins | Oath Keepers | 8.5 years | Conspiracy, obstruction; acquitted of seditious conspiracy |
| 6 | Roberto Minuta | Oath Keepers | 4.5 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 7 | Edward Vallejo | Oath Keepers | 3 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 8 | David Moerschel | Oath Keepers (Florida) | 3 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 9 | Joseph Hackett | Oath Keepers (Florida) | 3.5 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 10 | Ethan Nordean | Proud Boys (Seattle chapter president) | 18 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 11 | Joseph Biggs | Proud Boys | 17 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 12 | Zachary Rehl | Proud Boys (Philadelphia chapter president) | 15 years | Seditious conspiracy |
| 13 | Dominic Pezzola | Proud Boys | 10 years | Assault; acquitted of seditious conspiracy |
| 14 | Jeremy Bertino | Proud Boys | Time served | Seditious conspiracy (pleaded guilty; cooperated against Tarrio and other Proud Boys leaders; was not in D.C. on Jan. 6) |
Sources: proclamation recipient records; DOJ on Oath Keepers sentencing.
Why commutation instead of pardon?
A commutation cuts the sentence short but leaves the conviction in place. For the 14, that distinction matters in practice: commuted individuals remain convicted felons — still subject to federal firearms prohibitions, for example — while the ~1,500 pardoned defendants had their convictions wiped out entirely. (CRS LSB11294)
But the distinction blurred fast. Within a day of release, Stewart Rhodes was spotted on Capitol grounds — though a D.C. judge's order barred Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders from entering Washington without court permission, Trump DOJ lawyers then asked the judge to rescind that order. The commutation conditions became a live legal fight within 48 hours of the proclamation.
The prosecution it erased
By January 6, 2025 — four years after the attack — the Justice Department's investigation was the largest criminal probe in American history. Its final tallies, archived the day before the pardons:
- ~1,583 people federally charged across nearly all 50 states
- ~1,270 convicted — including ~1,009 guilty pleas and ~221 trial convictions
- ~608 charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement or obstructing officers during a civil disorder
- ~174 charged with using a dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer
- 14 convicted of seditious conspiracy — the charge's first successful use in decades
- 379 cases involved significant jail sentences, including 171 sentenced to 12+ months
Source: DOJ "48 Months Since the Jan. 6 Attack" (archived Jan. 6, 2025).
Over 300 people still had open cases when the proclamation ordered them dismissed with prejudice. By August 2026, a court had been ordered to abandon the final January 6 case.
What the officers said
The men who held the line on January 6, 2021 responded with fury:
- Michael Fanone (MPD, tased by Daniel Rodriguez): called the pardons "outrageous" and said the recipients are "not victims — they're not hostages." (Eurweb)
- Aquilino Gonell (USCP, retired): "He has no shame." Later warned the pardons were "an outrageous mistake." (Zeteo; The Mary Sue)
- Harry Dunn (USCP): in a January 2025 press conference with Democratic lawmakers, condemned the pardons alongside fellow officers. (C-SPAN, via Internet Archive)
- Daniel Hodges (MPD, crushed in a door frame on Jan. 6): joined Dunn at the same press conference. (C-SPAN, via Internet Archive)
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan. 6, 2021 | Attack on the U.S. Capitol; electoral count delayed until Jan. 7. Full account here. |
| Jan. 6, 2021 – Jan. 2025 | DOJ charges ~1,583 people; ~1,270 convicted. DOJ final statistics |
| Dec. 8, 2024 | Trump tells Meet the Press he will act "on the first day" on January 6 defendants. |
| Jan. 19, 2025 | Speaker Johnson: "peaceful protesters should be pardoned, but violent criminals should not." |
| Jan. 20, 2025 | Proclamation 10887 signed — ~1,500 pardons, 14 commutations, pending indictments ordered dismissed. Text |
| Jan. 21, 2025 | Trump DOJ asks judge to rescind the order keeping Oath Keepers/Proud Boys leaders out of D.C. |
| Jan. 22, 2025 | Daniel Ball — pardoned one day earlier — is re-arrested at the D.C. Jail on a pending Florida federal gun charge (felon in possession; firearm seized from his home in May 2023 during the Jan. 6 investigation). Prosecutors had accused Ball of using an explosive device against officers on Jan. 6. The Trump DOJ then moved to dismiss the gun charge with prejudice, citing the clemency order. |
| Jan. 27, 2025 | Pardoned rioter Matthew Huttle is shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in Indiana — one week after his pardon. |
| Jan. 2026 | House Judiciary Committee Democrats release a report: at least 23 Jan. 6 defendants committed new crimes between the attack and the inauguration, and five were charged with crimes after receiving pardons — Zachary Alam, John Banuelos, Brent John Holdridge, Matthew Huttle, and Christopher Moynihan (charges ranging from burglary to kidnapping and sexual assault). At least 159 of the pardoned had criminal records before Jan. 6. (The Hill, via KCAU) |
| July 14, 2026 | Pardoned rioter Peter Schwartz is stopped by park rangers at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, after a 911 caller reported him doing donuts around the caller's truck and pulling a gun. Rangers find two loaded pistols, suspected cocaine, and drug paraphernalia; an ATF complaint charges felon-in-possession. |
| Sept. 9, 2026 | Schwartz is arrested by Corpus Christi police on state charges: driving with a suspended license, possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful carrying of a weapon. |
| Aug. 2026 | The final January 6 case is ordered abandoned — the prosecutions are over. |
After the pardons: re-arrests and fallout
- Daniel Ball — pardoned; re-arrested January 22, 2025 at the D.C. Jail on a pending Florida federal firearms charge (felon in possession; the gun was seized from his home in May 2023 during the Jan. 6 investigation). Prosecutors had accused Ball of using an explosive device against officers on Jan. 6. The Trump DOJ subsequently moved to dismiss the gun charge with prejudice, citing the clemency order. (Lawyer Herald/IBT; court filing)
- Matthew Huttle — pardoned Jan. 20, 2025; shot and killed by an Indiana sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop on Jan. 27, 2025. (Akron Beacon Journal)
- Peter Schwartz — pardoned; arrested in Texas in 2026 on federal felon-in-possession and state gun/drug charges after the Padre Island incident in the timeline above. (X News Up; case record)
- Fact-checkers have tracked pardoned defendants re-arrested or charged after clemency and others charged or convicted of new crimes since the pardon. (Factually)
- A January 2026 House Judiciary Democrats report found at least 23 Jan. 6 defendants committed new crimes between the attack and the inauguration, and five were charged with crimes after receiving pardons. At least 159 of the pardoned had criminal records predating Jan. 6 — Schwartz had 38 prior convictions. (The Hill)
- CREW data: at least 33 pardoned rioters have been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes since January 6, 2021 — four allegedly reoffending after their pardons.
- Thomas Sibick — the pardoned rioter who took the badge and radio of Officer Michael Fanone on Jan. 6 (sentenced to 50 months; served about 18 before the pardon). In Erie County, New York, a June domestic incident led to a protection order requiring him to surrender his firearms; he did not. A grand jury charged six felonies and a misdemeanor; on September 2 he pleaded guilty to the top felony count and the misdemeanor. He faces up to seven years at his November 17 sentencing — on state charges no presidential pardon can touch. (Democratic Coalition; case record)
- Andrew Paul Johnson — pardoned for his Jan. 6 conviction; in March 2026 a Hernando County, Florida jury convicted him of molesting two children (two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of transmitting material harmful to a minor). Judge Stephen Toner sentenced him to life in prison. Investigators said Johnson told one victim he expected to be compensated as a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant. (AP via WVLT)
What we can't verify (yet)
- The exact number of pardon recipients. "Approximately 1,500" is the proclamation-era figure; analysts estimate closer to 1,600. No DOJ-certified count exists.
- The DOJ violent/nonviolent split of the pardoned population. DOJ published charge statistics for the charged population, not a clemency-specific breakdown. Treat any precise "X violent pardons" figure as an estimate.
Related
- January 6: The Attack and Its Aftermath — the day itself, the investigation, impeachment, and prosecution
- Elections & Democracy hub
- Bibliography — every source cited on this site