The Department of Justice moved Tuesday to vacate the convictions of 12 leading Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were found guilty of crimes committed during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of the 12 rioters on the first day of his second term. However, they did not receive unconditional pardons like the nearly 1500 others convicted in connection with the Capitol attacks.
Trump did not explicitly explain why these rioters’ were not granted a full pardon, but the gravity of their convictions was a likely consideration. As the leaders of their far-right respective extremist groups, these defendants received much heftier sentences. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was originally sentenced to 18 years in prison.
This conviction is the basis of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers appeals. Just days before the defendants’ deadline to file their opening brief with the federal appeals court, the DOJ filed the motion to vacate the convictions altogether.
“The United States has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” the motion filed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.
By vacating the convictions, Trump’s DOJ does not have to take the position of defending them in a court of appeals.
“We’re grateful to the DOJ for correctly assessing that seditious conspiracy was misused in this case,” Nicholas Smith, a lawyer for convicted Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, said. “Hundreds of years of precedent distinguish between riots and crimes that are akin to treason.”
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Former Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack on Jan. 6, 2021 after being shot with a stun gun by a rioter, felt betrayed by the DOJ’s reversal.
“I would remind Americans that these were traitors to this country,” Fanone said. “They planned, incited and carried out an insurrection.”
