Trump said they are “hostages.” What now happens to the January 6 cases?

What will happen to those things now that Trump has won? Here are three things you need to know.

Few people might be more relieved about it President-elect Donald Trump awaiting return to the White House than the more than 1,500 Americans charged with crimes related to January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

During his campaign, Trump often referred to those convicted on January 6 and awaiting trial as ‘political prisoners’ and ‘hostages’ and said he would pardon them if he won the 2024 elections.

Those convicted of serious crimes include leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militias serving sentences for crimes including seditious conspiracy.

Trump himself was indicted in a federal indictment over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, but Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith completed that and a separate case after Trump’s victory last week.

A similar endgame may await the cases against Jan. 6 suspects who face a range of felony and misdemeanor charges.

What will happen to those things now that Trump has won? Here are three things you need to know.

How many cases are there?

There are several archives and databases that track the January 6 prosecutions. One, from National Public Radio, lists the total number of people charged with federal offenses at 1,542, as of November 8, 2024.

Of those, the database reports, 999 pleaded guilty and another 174 were convicted on all charges, while 73 were found guilty on some of the charges. Just three people, by NPR’s countwere acquitted.

A total of 1,030 of these suspects have been convicted.

Who are some of the most high-profile cases?

One of the most infamous cases is the one against Henry “Enrique” Tarrio. The former head of the Proud Boys militant group was convicted in May 2023 of crimes including seditious conspiracy. In September 2023, Tarrio of Miami was sentenced to 22 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Another former Proud Boys member, Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 17 years in August 2023.

These sentences followed convictions of leaders of another extremist group, the Oath Keepers. In May 2023, Elmer Stewart Rhodes III of Texas, the group’s founder, and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the Florida chapter of Oath Keepers, were also convicted of seditious conspiracy and other January 6 charges.

Another high-profile case involves brother and sister Jonathan Pollock and Olivia Pollock of Lakeland, Florida. The siblings traveled to Washington, D.C., in January 2021 for then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, federal prosecutors said. After the attack, a grand jury indicted the two on charges including assaulting police officers, violent entry, presence in a restricted area and disorderly conduct.

Jonathan Pollock managed to avoid arrest and became a fugitive, according to media reports, while Olivia Pollock was arrested but released on bail and under supervision. But she turned off her GPS monitor and went into hiding just before a trial in March 2023, the Justice Department said.

The Pollocks were arrested and are awaiting resolution of their case.

Why does this matter?

The attack on the US Capitol almost four years ago shocked the world. A congressional committee released a 1,000-page report in December 2022 detailing what it called an attempted coup led by Trump and his allies.

Since then, however, views on the day’s violence have divided along partisan lines.

A poll from the Washington Post and the University of Maryland early this year found that 55% of voters said they believed the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was an attack on American democracy and 43% said there was too much focus and attention was on the events of that day.

About 86% of Democrats said the attack should not be forgotten and 72% of Republicans said it was time to move on.

In the 2024 election, January 6 was a major reason why voters were concerned about the fate of American democracy. An NBC News exit poll found that 34% of voters said the state of Democratic governance was their most pressing issue, followed by the economy at 31%.

Jacob Ware, co-author of the book “God, Guns and Sedition,” notes that organizations like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers were effectively “broken up” by the January 6 resistance and persecutions. But the broader message, the broader hope that January 6 could serve as a lasting deterrent against political violence and insurrection, has far less staying power.

“The deterrence factor of January 6 that you think would be there based on the allegations associated with it has already been eroded,” Ware said. ‘People were punished for the crimes they committed, and that is important from a criminal justice perspective.

“But the deterrence that this case, the largest investigation in American history, would generate, one would think, has been eroded by four years of rhetoric calling them warriors, heroes, patriots, political prisoners and martyrs. more of an affirmation of that, as opposed to something drastic or different.”

Trump has named figures in his cabinet including Representative Matt Gaetz as Attorney Generalwho condemned the January 6 prosecutions, including the case against Trump.

Contributing: Gary White, Lakeland Ledger

Antonio Fins is politics and affairs editor at The Palm Beach Postpart of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Support our journalism. Subscribe today.