Storming of the Capitol | Donald Trump’s victory gives hope to the accused

(Washington) Among Donald Trump’s supporters, a specific group had a very personal interest in his victory: those accused of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, who hope for a presidential pardon when he returns to the White House.

Just hours after the results were announced, lawyers for several of them feverishly filed appeals to request the postponement of their next hearing, including for sentencing after they had already been found guilty. .

If they have been systematically rejected until now, some say they already feel the tide turning.

“As if by magic, for three days, I have received emails from the Department of Justice promising the restitution of property that we have been demanding for years,” wrote Thursday on assault on the Capitol.

“I think that the flood of property returned to the defendants on January 6 will turn into a torrent in the next two weeks,” adds the lawyer, who has already obtained the return of the fur headdress with the buffalo horns and the spear. worn by one of its most famous clients, Jacob Chansley, who became a symbol of the assault on the Capitol.

One accused, Anna Lichnovski, against whom prosecutors requested a year in prison, asked the judge in vain to postpone the pronouncement of her sentence scheduled for Friday “after the inauguration of the president to allow her to request a presidential pardon.” on the grounds that Donald Trump raised this possibility.

“Day of love”

Another defendant, Jaimee Avery, refers in her appeal to a link to a video from July 31 in which the Republican presidential candidate confirmed his intention to pardon the participants in the assault on the Capitol “if they are innocent” .

“They were convicted by a very harsh system,” he responded to an objection to the fact that many of them had already been convicted.

“There would be a glaring inconsistency in what M^me Avery spends even one day in prison while the man who played a central role in organizing and instigating the events of January 6 will now never have to suffer the consequences,” argues his defense.

Donald Trump recently described January 6, 2021 as a “day of love” and an “overflow of affection” towards him.

That day, hundreds of his supporters, heated by his baseless accusations of electoral fraud, stormed the Capitol, the sanctuary of American democracy, to try to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

Since then, more than 1,560 people have been arrested and charged, of whom more than 1,200 have been convicted.

Donald Trump was not directly concerned by the courts for these events, although the parliamentary commission of inquiry into January 6, 2021 recommended criminal proceedings against him in December 2022, in particular for calling for rebellion and plotting against American institutions.

He was indicted in August 2023 by a federal court in Washington and then by the courts of the state of Georgia for his allegedly unlawful attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.

But by becoming president again, he should escape criminal prosecution, at least until the end of his mandate.

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