Brownshirts.

On Monday:

GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021
January 20, 2025

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.

Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I do hereby:

(a) commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025:

• Stewart Rhodes

• Kelly Meggs

• Kenneth Harrelson

• Thomas Caldwell

• Jessica Watkins

• Roberto Minuta

• Edward Vallejo

• David Moerschel

• Joseph Hackett

• Ethan Nordean

• Joseph Biggs

• Zachary Rehl

• Dominic Pezzola

• Jeremy Bertino

(b) grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021;

The Attorney General shall administer and effectuate the immediate issuance of certificates of pardon to all individuals described in section (b) above, and shall ensure that all individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, who are currently held in prison are released immediately. The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

I further direct the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

Observations:

Aaron Rupar ‪@atrupar.com‬
REPORTER: Is there now a place for the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in the political conversation following your pardons?

TRUMP: Well, we have to see

[….]
January 21, 2025 at 4:42 PM

‪Marc Elias‬ ‪@marcelias.bsky.social‬
Before the election, I warned that Trump would pardon all of the Jan. 6 defendants and some of them would form the core of a new rightwing paramilitary organization loyal to Trump.

At the time, people dismissed me as alarmist. I stand by that prediction.
[….]
January 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM

Malcolm Nance, Leading Resister ‪@malcolmnance.bsky.social‬
I literally write a whole book about this. The PB & Oathkeepers will form the heart of a MAGA Brown Shirts movement.

January 21, 2025 at 7:39 PM

Trump’s Day One Executive Orders
Joyce Vance
Jan 21, 2025
[….]
None of this is normal, and it’s our job to keep it from being normalized. Presidents don’t try to erase the Constitution or turn the federal bureaucracy into a loyalty corps. They don’t release violent criminals from prison so they can return the favor. As the examples grow, our job is to refuse to treat them like they’re acceptable. Trump’s abuses have to remain shocking, not because they surprise us, but because they are profoundly unacceptable and contrary to democratic principles.

Trump wants us to abandon those principles. The easiest slide into autocracy is the one where we give up. Continuing to believe in democracy is a profound act of resistance and courage in a moment like this when we are being told it no longer matters.

Don’t give up.
[….]

Ironic, eh.