WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump has alluded to the possibility of the government providing compensation for the men and women he pardoned shortly after taking office who were tried, convicted, and jailed for their participation in the January 6, 2021, protest event at the U.S. Capitol building.
“Is there any talk of — because they lost opportunity, they lost income — any kind of compensation fund or anything like that?” Newsmax host Greg Kelly asked the president.
“Well, there’s talk about that … a lot of the people that are in government now talk about that,” said Trump. “A lot of the people in government really like that group of people.”
“They were patriots as far as I was concerned,” declared the president. “They were treated very unfairly.”
“January 6 defendants were fraudulently prosecuted and thrown in jail for YEARS for peacefully protesting,” wrote former January 6 political prisoner John Strand, who posted a video clip of the interview on X.
“I was one of them and I lost nearly everything,” said Strand. “I hope some compensation for wrongful imprisonment is awarded to help make things right.”
January 6 defendants were fraudulently prosecuted and thrown in jail for YEARS for peacefully protesting.
I was one of them and I lost nearly everything.
I hope some compensation for wrongful imprisonment is awarded to help make things right.
pic.twitter.com/Y9T7g0b5rD— John Strand (@JohnStrandUSA) March 26, 2025
Trump issued pardons for nearly all the more than 1,500 January 6 defendants on his first day in office, granting most a “full, complete and unconditional pardon’ and ordering that individuals in prison be ‘released immediately.’”
The document signed by the president proclaimed “a grave national injustice … has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”
Trump’s order further demanded that individuals being held in prison be “released immediately” and that all pending indictments against potential J6 defendants be dismissed.
“I will say this, they’ve been in jail for a long time already. I see murderers in this country get two years, one year and maybe no time. So they’ve already been in jail for a long time. These people have been destroyed,” said Trump in January when asked if any of the pardoned individuals had assaulted police, according to the New York Post.
“What they’ve done to these people is outrageous,” he continued. “Even people that were aggressive, and in many cases, I believe they happen to be outside agitators. But what do I know? But I think they were. I think they were outside agitators. They were outside agitators. And obviously, the FBI was involved.”
“They’ve been treated very unfair[ly],” said Trump. “The judges have been absolutely brutal. The prosecutors have been brutal. And nobody’s ever treated people in this country like that.”
Many non-violent misdemeanor cases (and even some who did nothing more than enter the building) were subjected to disproportionate treatment and held in abysmal conditions while awaiting trial.
Sadly, the presidential pardons came too late for four young men – Mark Aungst, Chris Stanton, Jord Meachum, and Matthew Perna – who committed suicide rather than face jail terms for having been associated with the January 6, 2021, event at the U.S. Capitol.
Despite the FBI failing to find evidence that violence at the event was planned or organized, Democrats continued more than a dozen committee investigations into the incident, with hundreds of people arrested. Videos show that many people were let into the Capitol by police and simply walked the halls after the initial breach, as LifeSiteNews’ Calvin Freiburger noted.
