Trump grants pardons to 1,500 US Capitol rioters and withdraws from Paris climate accord

21 Jan 2025, 07:00 by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ie

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has granted pardons to more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January, 2021, in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

He also announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

These are some of the many orders Trump signed on the first day of his new term.

In addition to granting pardons to over 1,500 of his supporters who storms the Capitol, Trump also ordered that all pending criminal cases against Capitol riot defendants be dropped.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House yesterday Alamy Stock PhotoAlamy Stock Photo

Among those receiving a pardon was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for directing a military-style assault on the Capitol.

Stewart Rhodes, the leader of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, had his 18-year prison sentence commuted to time served. Both Tarrio and Rhodes had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Describing the rioters as “hostages,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he had granted “full pardons” to more than 1,500 defendants.

“We hope they come out tonight, frankly,” he said.

A total of 1,583 people were charged in connection with the assault on Congress by Trump supporters seeking to disrupt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign to pardon those who took part in the attack, calling them “patriots” and “political prisoners.”

Trump, whose first term as president ended under the cloud of the Capitol assault, has repeatedly played down the violence of 6 January, even going so far as to describe it as a “day of love.”

More than 140 police officers were injured in hours of clashes with rioters wielding flagpoles, baseball bats, hockey sticks and other makeshift weapons along with Tasers and canisters of bear spray.

The Capitol assault followed a fiery speech by then-president Trump to tens of thousands of his supporters near the White House in which he repeated his false claims that he won the 2020 race.

He then encouraged the crowd to march on Congress.

Former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the pardons, calling them “an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol.”

“It is shameful that the president has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power,” Pelosi said.

Climate action

In addition to withdrawing from the Paris Climate accord, Trump also declared a “national energy emergency” to expand drilling in the world’s top oil and gas producer, said he would scrap vehicle emissions standards that amount to an “electric vehicle mandate,” and vowed to halt offshore wind farms, a frequent target of his scorn.

Trump finishes signing executive orders as he attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena yesterday Alamy Stock PhotoAlamy Stock Photo

“I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip-off,” he said to cheering supporters at a Washington sports arena after being sworn in. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”

He also signed an order instructing federal agencies to reject international climate finance commitments made under the previous administration, and issued a formal letter to the United Nations notifying it of Washington’s intent to leave the agreement.

Under the accord’s rules, the United States will formally exit in one year.

Critics warn the move undermines global cooperation on reducing fossil fuel use and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their commitments, while Argentina, under libertarian President Javier Milei has also said it is “re-evaluating” its participation.

The move comes as global average temperatures over the past two years surpassed a critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time, underscoring the urgency of climate action.

Trump previously withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord during his first term. Despite this, the agreement – adopted in 2015 by 195 parties to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change – appears poised to endure.

“The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate, but multilateral climate action has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country’s politics and policies,” said Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the accord.

Executive Orders

Elsewhere, Trump signed various orders aimed at reshaping how the US manages immigration and citizenship.

One declared a national emergency at the southern border, and Trump also promised a mass deportation operation involving the military, which he says will target those he called “criminal aliens.”

In the Oval Office, Trump signed an order revoking birthright citizenship.

But automatic US citizenship to people born in the country is enshrined in the Constitution, and Trump’s action is certain to face a legal challenge.

Trump revoked sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank accused of abuses against Palestinians, undoing an unprecedented action taken by Joe Biden’s administration.

He also signed an order for the United States to exit the World Health Organization, insisting Washington was unfairly paying more than China into the UN body, and repealed various executive orders promoting diversity programs and LGBTQ equality, in line with his promised attack on “woke” culture.