“As President, I have the absolute right to pardon,” Donald Trump tweeted back in 2018. This statement has come back to haunt him, as his recent mass pardon for over 1,500 Capitol riot defendants has sparked widespread outrage and raised questions about the limits of presidential power.
Trump’s Mass Pardon: Understanding the Controversy
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was stormed by rioters, resulting in one of the most shocking events in the US history. Four years later, President Trump is making global news headlines once more after granting a mass pardon over 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol riot.
The Pardon Controversy
President Donald Trump’s mass pardon (including commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers) has been met with fierce criticism from lawmakers, legal experts and the general public. Many have argued that Trump’s mass pardon undermines the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent that violent behaviour will be condoned.
Others still have expressed worries about the potential consequences for the justice system, especially in cases involving domestic terrorism, especially as Trump also signed an order directing the Department of Justice to drop all pending cases against suspects accused in the riot.
The executive action came shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the US inside the very Capitol which was stormed by his supporters on 6 January 2021 when lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
Capitol Police officers were attacked by the rioters with weapons including metal batons, wooden planks, flagpoles, fire extinguishers and pepper spray. In the aftermath of the incident, the Justice Department launched a nationwide manhunt for the suspects, which continued until today.
President Trump had previously called those prosecuted for the riot “political prisoners”, who posed “zero threat” while democrats on the other hand had describe the day as an attempted insurrection, and an attack on democracy itself.
