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President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the possibility of financial compensation for people who were prosecuted for taking part in the riot at the Capitol in 2021.
Speaking to Newsmax on Tuesday night, Trump said he had taken “care” of his supporters who attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss and added there is “talk” about compensating them.
“A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” he said, referring to the Jan. 6 defendants, who he described as protesting “peacefully and patriotically.”
Some of the freed Jan. 6 rioters and their advocates, such as Ed Martin, whom Trump appointed to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington, have long called for financial reparations for those who took part in the Capitol attack, many of whom subsequently spent time behind bars.
The president also described himself as a “big fan” of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to climb through a shattered window into the Speaker’s Lobby.
“Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan. And she was innocently standing there, they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd,” Trump said. “And a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her.”
Asked whether he would take action against the officer who killed Babbitt and is still employed in Capitol law enforcement, Trump said he would “take a look at it.” U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was investigated by the Justice Department for the shooting and cleared of any wrongdoing.
Trump’s blanket pardon for his supporters fulfilled one of his key campaign pledges, though he had previously stopped short of promising monetary compensation. The president signed an order on his first day in office granting clemency to about 1,500 rioterswho were prosecuted for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including hundreds convicted of assaulting police, carrying firearms and destroying property.
Speaking to Newsmax on Tuesday night, Trump said he had taken “care” of his supporters who attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss and added there is “talk” about compensating them.
“A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” he said, referring to the Jan. 6 defendants, who he described as protesting “peacefully and patriotically.”
Some of the freed Jan. 6 rioters and their advocates, such as Ed Martin, whom Trump appointed to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington, have long called for financial reparations for those who took part in the Capitol attack, many of whom subsequently spent time behind bars.
The president also described himself as a “big fan” of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to climb through a shattered window into the Speaker’s Lobby.
“Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan. And she was innocently standing there, they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd,” Trump said. “And a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her.”
Asked whether he would take action against the officer who killed Babbitt and is still employed in Capitol law enforcement, Trump said he would “take a look at it.” U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was investigated by the Justice Department for the shooting and cleared of any wrongdoing.
Trump’s blanket pardon for his supporters fulfilled one of his key campaign pledges, though he had previously stopped short of promising monetary compensation. The president signed an order on his first day in office granting clemency to about 1,500 rioterswho were prosecuted for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including hundreds convicted of assaulting police, carrying firearms and destroying property.
