• 2 days ago
More than 1,250 people pleaded guilty or have been convicted after trials in connection with the Capitol breach, with more than 650 receiving prison time ranging from a few days to 22 years.
Transcript
00:00Monday marks the fourth anniversary of the 6th of January attack on the U.S. Capitol.
00:07Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters breached the building in a bid to stop lawmakers certifying
00:12the results of the 2020 election which saw Joe Biden win the presidency.
00:17And as lawmakers meet to repeat the process, opinion is split among Republicans over Trump's
00:22pledge to pardon all those jailed for their involvement.
00:26Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on day one of his presidency, which begins
00:31on the 20th of January.
00:33Most likely, I'll do it very quickly, he said on NBC's Meet the Press.
00:38More than 1,250 people pleaded guilty or have been convicted after trials in connection
00:43with the 6th of January, with more than 650 receiving prison time ranging from a few days
00:49to 22 years.
00:52Some Republicans, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, are in favor of sweeping pardons for all those
00:56convicted.
00:57I think they've served their time and I think they should all be pardoned and released from
01:01prison, she said.
01:03But others believe it's more appropriate for Trump to look at pardons on a case-by-case
01:08basis.
01:09Veteran Republican Gus Bilirakis wasn't prepared to sanction sweeping pardons.
01:15You've got to look at it individually.
01:17Some probably deserve to be pardoned, he said.
01:21Police officers who defended the Capitol are particularly incensed about the possible pardons.
01:26Many officers were beaten, some with their own weapons, as they tried to hold back the
01:30mob.
01:32About 140 officers were injured in the violence, making it what one attorney called likely
01:37the largest single-day mass assault of law enforcement in American history.
01:42House Democrats, who conducted an investigation into the attack, warned that the pardons could
01:47have far-reaching consequences.
01:50And Republican Bennie Thompson, who led the House committee that investigated the riots,
01:54said in his report that Trump lit the fire for the insurrection.

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