JD Vance says that people who were 'prosecuted unfairly' over J6 'should be pardoned'

Vice President-elect JD Vance said that people who “committed violence” on Jan. 6, 2021, during the Capitol riots, should “obviously” not be pardoned by President-elect Donald Trump. 

“I think it’s very simple, look, if you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

“If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” he continued. “And there’s a little bit of a gray area there.”

Vance said he and Trump are “very much committed” to the equal administration of law. He added that they believe there were people who were “prosecuted unfairly.”

“We need to rectify that,” Vance said, according to The Hill. 

Last week marked the fourth anniversary of that event, in which the overwhelming majority marched “peacefully and patriotically,” as Trump had urged them to do in his speech at the Ellipse, the 52-acre park just south of the White House fence. Trump's speech partially overlapped with the marchers headed toward the Capitol Building where the certification of the 2020 presidential election was taking place. 

Trump has long promised to grant clemency on a case by case basis to those who peacefully protested that day. 

Some argue, without evidence, that what took place was a violent insurrection, though no one among the more than 1,200 people who have been charged or convicted of crimes from that day was charged with insurrection. 

Among the thousands of hours of video footage available of the events of that day, are examples of Capitol Police officers moving aside barriers and waving people into the building. There were also known to be at least 26 FBI confidential informants on the grounds that day, most of whom were involved in illegal activity, according to a Justice Department Inspector General report issued last month. Some investigative reporters believe there were many more FBI assets among the crowd. 

The harsh punishment, with many of those indicted being held without bail, kept in solitary confinement, and denied access to their attorneys, has been the subject of much controversy.