Trump's mass pardons: Justice Department erases riot records
Initially, Donald Trump pardoned one and a half thousand people, including those convicted for their role in the storming of the Capitol in 2021. Now the Department of Justice has removed evidence of crimes committed during the riots from the internet. The database has also vanished from the FBI website. Participants in the storming and Trump's supporters are celebrating, while the media describes it as "rewriting history".
This week, President Donald Trump attempted to alter the history of his supporters' attack on the United States Capitol, writes CNN.
The news outlet reports that a database detailing a wide range of criminal charges and convictions related to the January 6th, 2021 rioters has been removed from the Department of Justice's website.
The portal highlights that the U.S. prosecution has declined to comment on this matter.
CNN notes that the removal of the comprehensive website cataloguing the largest criminal investigation in the department's modern history coincides with Trump's decision concerning those convicted in the January 6th, 2021 case.
Trump pardoned nearly one and a half thousand people convicted of participating in the storming of the Capitol and commuted the sentences of six others. He described them as "hostages" whose lives had been devastated.
The U.S. president also released 14 members of far-right extremist groups from prison ahead of schedule, including 10 convicted of seditious conspiracy. He further requested that the federal courts in Washington dismiss over 300 pending cases.
When signing the pardons in the Oval Office, Trump did not specify whether the pardoned individuals had engaged in violence.
"These people have been destroyed. What they've done to these people is outrageous. There's rarely been anything like it in the history of our country," he commented.
The entire website has disappeared. Capitol storm participants celebrate
The removal of the Department of Justice's website was celebrated by those convicted for their actions and their supporters.
"This is a huge victory for J6ers)," wrote Brandon Straka on X, who was among those pardoned by Trump for participating in the Capitol riots.
"This site was one of countless weapons of harassment used by the federal government to make life impossible for its targets from J6," he stated.
The FBI - another branch of the Department of Justice - also removed its compendium of wanted Capitol rioters from the web. Previously, the federal bureau's website featured photographs and other information about suspects still being sought.
Attack on the Capitol in the USA
To recall, on January 6th, 2021, demonstrators who disagreed with the results of the most recent presidential elections in the USA (Trump lost - editor's note) surrounded the Capitol building and entered it.
The protesters demanded that the parliament reject the election results, which declared Democratic candidate Joe Biden the winner, enabling him to assume the office of President of the United States. Among those detained and later charged was Jacob Chansley, known as the "Q Shaman." During the January riots, he was dressed in animal skins and horns.
