[16] The Justice Department documented assaults on over 140 police officers and property damage exceeding $2.8 million to the Capitol building and grounds.

Approximately 170 defendants had been accused of using deadly or dangerous weapons against law enforcement officers, including fire extinguishers and bear spray.

These commutations applied to prominent figures in the January 6 events, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes with members Kelly Meggs and Roberto Minuta, Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean, Jeremy Bertino, and Joseph Biggs, and Proud Boy member Dominic Pezzola, who was the first rioter to breach the Capitol building, all of whom had their sentences reduced to time served "as of January 20, 2025".

An anonymous senior official in the Justice Department called the pardons a green light signal to political violence and that nothing done during the January 6 attack were wrong.

[68] US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, stated during a case on 25 January 2025 that during his time on the bench, he could never recall "such meritless justifications of criminal activity".

[68] Many of the pardoned rioters had prior convictions and outstanding charges for rape, child sexual exploitation, domestic violence, manslaughter, drug trafficking, and other crimes.

He continued speaking for another minute, adding: "These people have already served a long period of time, and I made a decision to give a pardon.

[78] Stewart Rhodes told reporters that his actions on January 6 were justified and called for the prosecution of the Capitol police who testified against him at his trial and the Justice Department lawyers who were involved in his case.

There should be no pardons" and that accepting it would "contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative" in an attempt to "rewrite history", and that the Justice Department was not weaponized against Trump supporters.

"[84] Rebecca Lavrenz, known on social media as the "J6 Praying Grandma", also declined her pardon, stating that she planned to appeal her case and get her criminal record cleared.

Lavrenz was convicted of four misdemeanor charges and sentenced to a year of probation, including six months of house arrest, as well as being ordered to pay a $103,000 fine.

[87] Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan Police Department officer who had been repeatedly assaulted and crushed by rioters during the attack, responded to the pardons on his Twitter account: "Thanks America.".

[88][77] Former Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and tased until unconscious during the riot, was asked during a CNN interview what he would say to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

[89] Former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell described the pardons as a "miserable" injustice that removed accountability from rioters who did "irreparable damage to our nation".

[96] Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the pardons, and remarked that Trump was leading the nation to a "Golden Age" for insurrectionary criminals.

[97] Some Republican leaders, including Senators Lindsey Graham, Thom Tillis, James Lankford, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy, also expressed disagreement with the mass pardon.

"[100] Representative Lauren Boebert spoke favorably of the pardoned people: "I want to see them for their release, and you know, I'll be the first member of Congress to offer them a guided tour of the Capitol.