Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes were released from prison on Tuesday. After President Donald Trump’s sweeping apology among those punished in connection with the riot in the Capitol of January 6.
They were serving sentences of 22 and 18 years, respectively, for their roles in the riots.
Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, poses for a portrait after being released last night from the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Four years after storming the Capitol, threatening members of Congress and attacking police, a gang of Jan. 6 rioters convicted of the most violent incidents that day are free men thanks to Trump.
Other convicted members were scheduled to be released later in the day from Washington, DC area jails and prisons.
Of the nearly 1,600 individuals linked to the Capitol attack, according to data released by the US Attorney’s Office, 608 people were charged with resisting or obstructing law enforcement trying to secure the complex that day. About 140 officers were injured in the riots, according to the Department of Justice.
A federal judge punished Rhodes in May 2023, after being convicted of seditious conspiracy the previous year for his and his group’s role in the riots. The Oath Keepers stockpiled weapons at a DC hotel and he organized the attackaccording to prosecutors.
Rhodes himself did not enter the Capitol last Jan. 6 and said his team was only providing security and medical assistance to those taking part in multiple pro-Trump demonstrations in the area, prosecutors said.
Stewart Rhodes speaks to the press following his release last night, serving the last 3 years in Cumberland, Maryland on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C., January 21, 2025.
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It was Tarrio punished In September 2023, he was given the longest sentence between the seditious conspiracy convictions and the January 6 riots conviction, even though he was not in the Capitol on January 6.
At the time of his sentencing, prosecutors pointed to a nine-page strategic plan to “demolish” government buildings in Washington on January 6, which was found in Tarrio’s possession after the riots, as well as the violent rhetoric they say he routinely used in messages with other members. What would Congress do if it proceeded to verify the election victory of President Joe Biden?
As more mirrors were released from prisons and jails, a group of Trump supporters, members of the Proud Boys and others gathered and cheered on their release.
Supporters of people jailed on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol gather outside a detention center on the inauguration day of Donald Trump’s second term as president, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
The group carried large flags with Trump and American flags attached and signs that read “no one left behind” and “sorry to all the j6 hostages first day.”
Current and former DOJ officials have expressed concern over the prospect of Trump pardoning — or otherwise freeing — violent criminals, citing the risk of acting as prosecutors who oversaw their cases, as well as the judges who sentenced them to prison terms. of imprisonment, or the witnesses who have testified against them.
