President Donald Trump has pardoned nearly every Jan. 6 defendant, paving the way for some to be released from prison

Within hours of taking office Monday, President Donald Trump said he had pardoned nearly everyone charged with taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol — a striking, sweeping decision that will affect scores of defendants from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including some who had been convicted of committing acts of violence while ransacking the halls of American government.

While seated in the Oval Office Monday night, Trump signed documents that he said would effectively eliminate the criminal cases for “approximately 1,500 people” and commute the sentences of six others.

Moments later, the White House released a statement with different details, saying Trump had commuted the sentences of 14 people — including Philadelphia native Zach Rehl, a leader of the local Proud Boys chapter who was convicted of seditious conspiracy — and granted “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses” related to the melee at the Capitol.

Speaking to reporters while signing a flurry of executive actions Monday night, Trump reiterated his criticism of federal prosecutors who pursued criminal cases against Jan. 6 defendants, saying those charged were “hostages” who had been “treated so badly.”

“These people have been destroyed,” Trump said, adding: “What [prosecutors] have done to these people has been outrageous.”

Trump had promised clemency for the Capitol defendants on the campaign trail and repeated that pledge after defeating Kamala Harris in the November election. That relief will extend to more than 150 people from Pennsylvania and New Jersey who had been charged in the sprawling Justice Department investigation of the violent Jan. 6 attack, a chaotic disturbance that sought to block certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Prosecutors charged more than 1,500 people in all.

The commutations were given to members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, groups that prosecutors said were responsible for inciting violence in the Capitol. Some were convicted of the rarely used sedition charge, and Rehl was among those ordered to serve lengthy prison terms when he was sentenced.

Pardons, meanwhile, were granted to hundreds of people convicted and sent to prison for other serious felonies — including assaults on police officers — and Trump said those who remained behind bars Monday would soon go free. The White House statement said the attorney general would be instructed to ensure that anyone currently incarcerated for a Jan. 6-related crime be “released immediately.”

“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “They’re expecting it.”

More than 800 others were charged with misdemeanor offenses for their roles in the riot, and a pardon will eliminate any criminal consequences stemming from those cases, even for people whose sentences have ended. Most of those defendants had been charged with — or convicted of — crimes including trespassing, disorderly conduct, or parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol.

Trump also ordered federal prosecutors to dismiss the pending criminal cases of more than 300 people awaiting trial or sentencing.

The decision to issue blanket pardons was a remarkable development in a divisive chapter in American history. Trump has long accused the Justice Department of conducting a politically motivated and corrupt investigation into the Capitol attack, and described some of those charged as “patriots” and “hostages” as he sought to downplay the gravity of the day’s chaos. Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with leading the effort to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, but he dropped the case after Trump won re-election in 2024, saying Justice Department policy prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents.

Trump had suggested he would offer some form of relief to Jan. 6 defendants upon his return to the White House, but the scale of his decision remained unknown until hours after he was sworn-in for his second term Monday afternoon.

His actions were immediately criticized by Democrats including Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle, who said Trump had committed a “shameful betrayal” and effectively endorsed those who committed violence against law enforcement.

“What a disgrace to our country and Constitution that Donald Trump pardoned the criminals who violently attacked police officers, ransacked the Capitol, and tried to overturn a free and fair election,” Boyle said in a statement. “These thugs didn’t just break the law — they attacked the very foundation of our democracy.”

Rep. Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia Democrat, was similarly scathing in a statement sent to The Inquirer, saying: “On his first day back in office, the convicted felon president has set loose criminals who violently attacked police officers and tried to overturn Pennsylvanians’ votes. I’m disgusted.”

N.J. Sen. Cory Booker, meanwhile, said on CNN that Trump’s decision was a “stunning dereliction of duty” and “cast a big shadow” over the beginning of Trump’s new term in office.

“I’m just deeply disappointed and angry that that’s how he decided to begin,” Booker said.

Perhaps the most striking local beneficiary of Trump’s action was Rehl, a Port Richmond native and one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a group prosecutors said helped incite the assault. He and three other men were found guilty in 2023 of charges including seditious conspiracy for riling up the mob that stormed the Capitol, and Rehl was ordered to serve 15 years in federal prison — one of the longest sentences imposed on any Jan. 6 defendant.

It was not clear Monday night when he might be released from prison. His attorney, Norm Pattis, said in an interview just before 10 p.m. that he wasn’t sure when Rehl would be freed, but that “my understanding is he should be released any time now.”

Ryan Samsel, a Bucks County resident who federal prosecutors said was another instigator of the riot, was also poised to be spared. He was convicted last year of felony charges including assaulting a police officer, and prosecutors over the weekend said they were seeking a prison sentence of 20 years. Samsel’s sentencing hearing, scheduled for next month, now seems unlikely to move forward.

Julian Khater, meanwhile — a native of Somerset, N.J., who ran a smoothie shop in State College, Pa. — appeared likely see his six-year prison sentence end early. Khater pleaded guilty in 2022 to deploying pepper spray against police officers trying to protect the Capitol.

Dozens of other locals had also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, largely for entering the Capitol after the mob had breached the building, and sometimes filming videos or entering the offices of elected officials.

A presidential pardon does not erase a criminal case, but the pardon is added to the record of the case, and any restrictions stemming from a conviction — such as limitations on voting or seeking public office — are reversed, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

A commutation, meanwhile, keeps a conviction intact but ends or reduces a defendant’s sentence and can clear the way for a release from prison.

As Trump prepared to return to the White House, some Jan. 6 defendants had sought to delay hearings in anticipation of receiving a pardon. Others sought judicial permission to attend Trump’s inauguration.

Meanwhile, Biden, during his final days in office, made extensive use of his own presidential pardon power. And on Monday — in an unprecedented move — he granted preemptive pardons to five members of his family who he feared could be targeted for prosecution by the incoming Trump administration.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.