Vice President-elect JD Vance just provided the clearest explanation yet of the Trump administrationās plans to pardon Jan. 6 rioters, telling āFox News Sundayā that while thereās āa little bit of a gray area there,ā those who committed violence during the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack āobviouslyā shouldnāt be pardoned. Those who protested āpeacefully,ā however, can expect to have their records wiped clean.
āI think itās very simple,ā the former Ohio senator said. āIf you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and youāve had Merrick Garlandās Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldnāt be pardoned.ā
Vanceās comments provide a stark contrast to what President-elect Donald Trump has been saying over the past few months, with the future POTUS providing little to no details about who would get the pardons heās been promising except declaring that protesters who assaulted Capitol police officers āhad no choiceā that day.