Rioters who stormed US Capitol await Trump pardons

Donald Trump supporters who were charged with storming the US Capitol are now expecting pardons from the incoming American president, who has lauded them as “patriots” and “political prisoners”.

More than 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 assault on Congress which sought to disrupt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

“I am inclined to pardon many of them,” Trump, whose first term as president ended under the cloud of the attack, said at a CNN town hall, one of a number of times he made the pledge during his 2024 bid to retake the White House.

“I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly played down the violence of January 6, even going so far as to describe it recently as a “day of love”.