A member of the extreme right wing Proud Boys group who once told an undercover FBI agent about his admiration for Adolf Hitler and discussed a plan to “wipe out” America’s Jews is among the so-called “hostages” given unconditional pardons by new US president Donald Trump.
Hatchet Speed was sentenced in May 2023 to four years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 after confessing he was “deeply worried” about Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency because he was under the control of Jews.
On Monday, Trump confirmed he had issued “full, complete and unconditional” presidential pardons for around 1,500 people who were involved in the January 6 attack on Congress, including Speed.
Robert Keith Packer, a Virginia man who wore a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt at the same US Capitol riot was also among those pardoned.
Jan 6 riot in Washington DC
Earlier on the day of the riot Packer was wearing a “Schutzstaffel” shirt, referring to Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary unit headed by Heinrich Himmler, which is more commonly referred to as the SS, but he denied being a “white supremacist.”
Packer’s sweatshirt “appears to be a symbol of Nazi hate ideology”, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit, ahead of his trial, where he was found guilty.
Among those whose sentences were commuted by Trump was Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia.
Trump also directed the justice department to dismiss all pending indictments against people related to January 6.
“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,” Trump argued.
The Proud Boys marched in Washington on Monday, carrying a banner that congratulated Trump on his victory.
Convicted Capitol rioters continue to be released from prison Tuesday, while rioters who already completed their sentences are no longer hampered by probation conditions, like travel restrictions.
In one of his first official acts in the Oval Office, Trump signed a sweeping clemency order pardoning virtually all 1,250 convicted January 6 rioters, commuting the prison sentences of 14 members of far-right extremist groups, and directing the Justice Department to dismiss the roughly 300 pending cases.
Craig Sicknick, whose brother, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, was assaulted during the riot and died of multiple strokes the next day, was among those to condemn the pardons.
