Leaders of far-right militia groups and other US Capitol rioters who were convicted of violently assaulting police were freed from prison overnight by President Donald Trump’s mass pardons and commutations, as his ally Elon Musk threatened that the new administration might prosecute officials if they slow down additional inmate releases.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, both convicted of seditious conspiracy and serving long sentences, were released early Tuesday. Two brothers convicted of violent felonies were freed late Monday from jail in Washington, DC, and a Trump White House aide credited Musk with their swift release.
“Elon Musk knew about this and was the mastermind behind it, in a number of respects,” White House aide Paul Ingrassia said outside the DC jail Monday night, still wearing a tuxedo from an inaugural ball, about the first two inmates that were released there.
The tech billionaire and Tesla CEO expressed support for the released convicts with heart emojis on his social media platform X. Responding to unverified claims from right-wing figures that prison officials were delaying some upcoming releases, Musk urged family members of inmates to “let us know if you encounter any difficulties.”
Convicted Capitol rioters continue to be released from prison Tuesday, with reports trickling in from across the country and supporters posting celebratory messages online. And rioters who already completed their sentences are no longer hampered by probation conditions, like travel restrictions, and are seeing their civil rights restored, like the right to buy a gun.
In one of his first official acts in the Oval Office, Trump signed a sweeping clemency order Monday, pardoning virtually all 1,250 convicted January 6 rioters, commuting the prison sentences of 14 members of far-right extremist groups, and directing the Justice Department to dismiss the roughly 300 pending cases. These moves essentially end all of the January 6 cases.
Trump on Tuesday defended his decision when asked whether the pardons were sending a message that assaulting officers is OK. “No, the opposite,” he said.
Those pardoned for their roles on January 6, he said, “have already served years in prison and they’ve served them viciously. It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”
Many of the pardon recipients did serve time behind bars, but despite Trump’s claims, about 40% of the roughly 1,100 sentenced rioters avoided incarceration and got probation instead, according to Justice Department estimates.
Trump frees extremists and violent rioters
An attorney connected to Rhodes’ case confirmed that the Oath Keepers leader was released from the Maryland prison where he was serving an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other felony charges. Rhodes was one of the 14 convicted January 6 rioters tied to far-right extremist groups who received commutations instead of full pardons.
Unlike the vast majority of January 6 defendants, Rhodes never went inside the Capitol that day. But prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators plotted after the 2020 election to violently subvert the transfer of power, and that he “coordinated” from outside the Capitol with fellow Oath Keepers who infiltrated the complex. He was convicted in 2022.
In comments outside the DC jail hours after his presidential commutation, Rhodes said he had no regrets and continued to claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
“I always knew he was going to do it,” Rhodes said of Trump’s pardons.
Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy in 2023, also was released from prison Tuesday, according to his attorney.
Tarrio was serving his 22-year sentence at a federal prison in Louisiana – one of the longest sentences to come out of the January 6 prosecutions. Trump pardoned Tarrio but issued more limited commutations for many of Tarrio’s co-conspirators in the Proud Boys case.
Other violent January 6 rioters who were behind bars have also been released.
Isaac Sturgeon, who was found guilty of assaulting police, was released from a prison in Ohio. His mother posted a picture of him to social media early Tuesday, saying “Isaac is freeee!” His attorney also confirmed to CNN that he was released.
Sturgeon was sentenced to six years in prison for his felony convictions, including assaulting police with a large metal bike rack.
And Daniel Gray, who was serving a 2.5-year sentence for shoving an officer in the Capitol Rotunda – where Trump took the oath on Monday – was released from federal prison in Georgia early Tuesday, his lawyer told CNN. Prosecutors said after the attack, he bragged that he was “one of the first in the capital” and said that it “was the rowdiest thing I’ve ever done.”
Some January 6 rioters their newfound freedom by visiting a casino, according to pictures obtained by CNN. Brian Mock, who already finished his prison term for assaulting officers and stealing a riot shield, said he picked up fellow convicted rioter Salvador Sandoval from a federal prison facility in Minnesota. They later posted for smiling photos inside a casino. (Sandoval was also found guilty of assaulting multiple officers.)
“It was a good day, that’s for sure,” Mock told CNN.
Restoration of rights
Most of the 1,250 pardoned rioters already served their prison terms, were never sent to prison in the first place, or haven’t been sentenced yet for their crimes, and will never be sentenced because the Justice Department is dismissing their cases.
For those who aren’t behind bars, the greatest impact of the pardon will be the restoration of their civil rights.
“There are hundreds of different civil consequences – both formal, written into laws, and informal, in the form of discrimination – that happen if you have a criminal conviction,” said Margaret Love, who served in the Justice Department as the US pardon attorney from 1990 to 1997. “You can’t get jobs, you can’t get licenses, you can’t own or possess a firearm.”
Jacob Chansley, who reached global notoriety for roaming the Capitol in horns and fur as the self-styled “QAnon shaman,” said Monday night that he is eager to take advantage of his new gun rights. He pleaded guilty to felony obstruction and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released early in 2023, and was pardoned by Trump on Monday.
“NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!!” Chansley posted to X.
Over the years, January 6 defendants have complained about being fired from their jobs, ostracized by friends, deplatformed by social media sites, and cancelled credit cards. Their convictions influenced child custody disputes and divorce cases, some defendants said.
“There’s big component of psychological need for forgiveness and being welcomed back into society,” Love said of her clients, unrelated to January 6, who got clemency over the years. “Nobody wants a felony conviction. People feel like a pardon is the kind of official forgiveness and removal of that cloud, even if they aren’t suffering from a legal barrier.”
Musk’s celebration – and threats
In a flurry of social media posts, Musk expressed support for the convicted rioters, including by reposting on X a photo of the brothers who were released from the DC jail late Monday.
Andrew Valentin and Matthew Valentin were both sentenced last week to 2.5 years in prison for felony offenses and were still at the DC jail when Trump granted the pardons Monday. During the riot, Matthew Valentin tried to tear a baton from an officer, and Andrew Valentin threw a chair at a police line. Both pleaded guilty in September to assaulting police.
A top lieutenant from one of Musk’s companies was present at the jail.
Christopher Stanley, a senior engineering security official at SpaceX and X, posted that he “was boots on ground to ensure this was executed.” And Stanley stood next to Ingrassia as he announced outside the jail Monday night that the brothers were freed.
Musk replied to the post with a “heart” emoji. Stanley didn’t reply to a request for comment.
But some X users flagged posts to Musk with unverified claims of intentional delays in the release of some January 6 rioters.
The billionaire wrote that members of January 6 support groups should, “let us know if you encounter any difficulties with release of your loved ones.”
He also issued a public threat, writing: “If it is found by a judge to be true that some in the bureau of prisons have acted illegally, they may find themselves, ironically, in the same cell of the person they assaulted.”
Patiently waiting outside the DC jail
Outside the DC jail Tuesday morning, a smattering of January 6 rioter supporters gathered, including one rioter who already served his time in prison and received a pardon from Trump.
Another convicted rioter, Rachel Powell, emerged from the facility Tuesday afternoon, and later told reporters that a prison official woke her up with a flashlight ahead of her eventual release.
The rioter support groups say they believe there are about 20 detainees held in the jail.
Those convicted of January 6 charges who have already been sentenced are likely to be in federal Bureau of Prisons facilities across the country, not the local jail in Washington, which acts as more of a holding facility as a small number of detainees were awaiting trial or sentencing.
The group outside the DC jail on Tuesday morning included Brandon Fellows, who was released from federal prison in May after being sentenced by a Trump-appointed judge to three years and a month in prison, plus probation. He is one of the pardon recipients.
Prosecutors say Fellows entered the Capitol during the riot through a broken window, filmed rioters storming the building and ramming through a door, carried a “Trump 2020” flag, then smoked marijuana inside the Senate office and heckled police officers. A jury convicted Fellows of felony obstruction of a congressional proceeding, plus several misdemeanors.
The spokesperson for the DC jail hasn’t responded to CNN’s requests for information.
In the nearby Capitol Hill neighborhood, January 6 defendants, family members, and allies congregated at a house they’ve rented for several years. A leader of one of the support groups posted a photo Tuesday of Rhodes after his release, with several other defendants.
One of the convicted rioters smiling next to Rhodes in the picture, James Grant, was recently denied permission by a judge to travel to DC for Trump’s inauguration. Because he was on probation, he needed to seek court approval to travel outside of North Carolina. He was pardoned on Monday, ending his probation. It’s unclear when Grant arrived in Washington.
But there has also been some bipartisan condemnation of the pardons, which were opposed by a majority of Americans, according to polling conducted before Monday.
Victims of the Capitol riot have spoken out, including the family of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured in the siege and died one day later from strokes. His family said they hope “truth of what happened that tragic day will survive,” despite the clemency.
“We are proud of our son’s defense of American Democracy, and the continued efforts of his fellow officers to safeguard the seat of government, and the Constitution which guides it; our hearts go out to them as they cope with all that has occurred, and we pray for their strength and fortitude to continue their important mission,” they said in a statement.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Jamie Gangel, Hannah Rabinowitz , Gabe Cohen, Holmes Lybrand and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
