Enrique Tarrio, center right, is hugged by a supporter after arriving at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in Miami. Tarrio was pardoned by President Donald Trump after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)2025-01-23T18:35:13Z WASHINGTON (AP) After President Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 Capitol rioters on Monday, far-right activists cheered the move and said it strengthened their loyalty to him. Some also borrowed from the presidents own rhetoric, calling for retribution.Well never forget, well never forgive. You cant get rid of us, a California chapter of the far-right Proud Boys posted on Telegram.You are on notice. This is not going to end well for you, read an X post from one pardoned rioter addressed to anyone still attempting to continue to hold my brethren hostage.Enrique Tarrio, the former national Proud Boys leader whose 22-year sentence on seditious conspiracy charges was pardoned by Trump, went on the podcast of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after his release.The people who did this, they need to feel the heat, Tarrio said. We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did. The pardons and rhetoric of retribution from some of those released this week is raising deep concern among attorneys, former federal investigators and experts who follow extremism. They worry that the indiscriminate release of everyone charged in the riots could embolden extremists and make political violence more common, including around contentious political issues such as border security and elections. This move doesnt just rewrite the narrative of January 6, said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. It sets a dangerous precedent that political violence is a legitimate tool in American democracy. Plenty of the charges filed in the sprawling investigation didnt involve violence, and many who received clemency seem ready to move on with their lives. But for some, it could become a megaphone, said Michael Premo, director of the documentary Homegrown, which followed three right-wing activists, including a Proud Boy who participated in the riot. This going to build that base of support so when the next election cycle comes around ... theres the potential for Trump to hold onto power or to ensure his successor comes into office, Premo said.Trumps sweeping clemency order on Monday delivered on a campaign promise for the rioters he frequently referred to as patriots and political prisoners. He pardoned or vowed to dismiss the cases of nearly everyone charged in the Jan. 6 riots. Fourteen defendants, including several convicted of seditious conspiracy, had their sentences commuted.The order freed from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss. It also pardoned rioters who had been convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and already served their terms. Among them is Jacob Chansley, who became widely recognized for the horned fur hat he wore during the riot. Chansley celebrated the news of his pardon with an expletive on the social platform X, NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHER ... GUNS!!! Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, said he tried and failed this week to obtain a protective order against those who assaulted him and have been let out of prison. The problem is that he couldnt determine where his assailants live now, information Trumps Department of Justice would have given him if the agency still considered him a victim.Because of the pardons, he and his family are left to fend for themselves. We have no recourse, he said, outside of buying a gun.Barb McQuade, a former U.S. attorney in Michigan who has written critically of Trumps messaging, said she worries the pardons of even violent offenders send a signal that political violence is acceptable when its committed in service of the leader.Many of the pardoned rioters and others who organized events around Jan. 6 responded to the news with devotion to Trump. I would storm the Capitol again for Donald Trump, Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander, who helped organize rallies before the attack but was not charged with any crimes, said in a Telegram livestream the day after the pardons were announced. I would start a militia for Donald Trump. I dare say Id I would die for Donald Trump, obviously.Tarrio called Trump the best president, I think, since George Washington.I love you, I love Elon Musk, and I love President Donald Trump and Im happy that all of us are going to be working together to make America great again, Tarrio said during his interview with Jones, the conspiracy theorist who lost a defamation lawsuit for spreading lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 20 first-graders and six educators. Tarrio wasnt in Washington when members of the Proud Boys joined the riot, having followed a judges order to leave the city after being arrested on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally. During his sentencing, he called Jan. 6 a national embarrassment, apologizing to police officers and lawmakers and insisting he was done with politics.Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who was found guilty of orchestrating a weekslong plot that culminated in his followers attacking the Capitol, told reporters outside the District of Columbia jail on Tuesday that Jan. 6 should be remembered as Patriots Day.Im only guilty of opposing those who are destroying the country, said Rhodes, whose 18-year sentence on seditious conspiracy charges was commuted by Trump. We stood up for our country because we knew the election was stolen. Biden did not get 81 million votes.The results of the 2020 election were affirmed by reviews, recounts and audits in all six of the battleground states where Trump disputed his loss. That included, Arizona and Georgia, which at the time had Republican governors and secretaries of state. Trumps own attorney general said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and an Associated Press review in the six states revealed there far too few cases of potential fraud to have any impact on the outcome.Rhodes visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to advocate for the release of another defendant. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who was on the House committee that investigated the attack, questioned whether he and other defendants had been reformed by their shortened sentences.These people are definitely not innocent, and they havent suffered any procedural unfairness, he said. So, the question is, are they contrite? Are they repentant? Are they reformed or do they still pose a threat to police officers and to government in different parts of the country?Rhodes maintained Wednesday that he came to Washington to protest the election results in 2021, but didnt lead anything on Jan. 6 and does not bear responsibility for the riot. He did not enter the building that day and said other members of the Oath Keepers who did made a stupid decision, but werent criminals.Larry Rosenthal, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, said one marker of fascism throughout history has been the marriage of private militias with a political party. In fascist Italy, he said, such groups worked on behalf of the party in power to punish political enemies who wouldnt fall in line.Rosenthal said that in light of Trumps pardons, militia groups already active at the U.S. southern border would likely seek the Trump administrations approval when his sweeping immigration enforcement plan gets underway.The question, he said, is whether Trumps administration will bring them into the fold.Asked Tuesday if there was room for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in his movement, Trump said, Well, we have to see. Theyve been given a pardon. I thought their sentences were ridiculous and excessive.___Swenson reported from New York.___The Associated Pressreceives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ALI SWENSON Swenson reports on election-related misinformation, disinformation and extremism for The Associated Press. twitter LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site