Rioters are Hostages? Trump’s Upsetting Claim

In one of his first acts back in the Oval Office, newly inaugurated President Trump granted clemency to nearly all individuals convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. This decision comes as a closing chapter of what might be the largest investigation in the Justice Department’s history. After four years of the FBI observing footage, tracking down, and charging people, Trump has made good on his long-time promise to absolve those involved of criminal charges.
The clemency granted is indiscriminate, covering individuals convicted of violent, non-violent, and serious crimes. Of the roughly 1,590 people charged in connection with the January 6th insurrection, nearly all, except for 14, have been granted full pardons. The 14 excluded from full pardons will still receive early sentence releases. Among those 14 are members of white supremacy-linked groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
As Trump signed the executive order, he remarked: “These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon, full pardon… This is a big one.”
Trump’s comment comes as a realization of his previous Truth Social post on March 11, 2024:
“My first acts as your next president will be to close the border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”
The pardoning of the individuals convicted of crimes related to the January 6th attack has sparked concerns about justice and what message it sends about accountability for actions that undermine democracy.
In an interview with CNN, Representative Jason Crow, of Colorado’s 6th congressional district, had quite a bit to say.
“Well, it’s abhorrent… If you call these criminals, these insurrectionists hostages, you very clearly are trying to undermine the election, overturn the election, and have no respect for our democratic government… We’re not going to let Donald Trump rewrite history, we’re going to call it like it is. This was a violent insurrection that killed a police officer. Several others took their own lives because of the trauma after the fact, and over 160 were brutally beaten that day.”
The officer mentioned is Brian Sicknick, a United States Capitol Police officer who died from two strokes the day after responding to the U.S. Capitol attack. During the assault, he was sprayed with pepper spray, involved in physical altercations, and exposed to stresses that, according to medical examiner Dr. Francisco Diaz, contributed to his death. Though ultimately ruled as a death of natural causes, this categorization is debated as inaccurate by select neurologists.
Individuals I’ve spoken with after watching the inauguration have further expressed concern about the conflation and use of the word “hostages” in the context of the rioters, particularly as the comment was made just one day after the new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas officially began.
They felt not only was the timing of the phrase unfortunate but so was the setting.
Israeli relatives of hostages, along with former hostage Noa Argamani, stood behind the President as he quickly pivoted from mentioning “Bring them home,” the call for the freedom of hostages held by Hamas, to his plan to sign an executive order to free the “J6 hostages.”
While incredibly grateful for the strides President Trump has made in America’s relationship with Israel, and for his highlighting the October 7 hostages in the speech, I am also concerned with this conflation.
The “hostages” of January 6, as coined by Trump, include offenders who assaulted police officers, are members of white-supremacy groups, and sprayed chemicals at those standing guard, forcing all employees inside the Capitol to take shelter and evacuate.
Though largely pardoned by Trump on Monday, these “hostages” committed egregious acts of destruction and were initially charged with many criminal offenses.
The hostages taken on October 7 in southern Israel, on the other hand, include children as young as 9 months old, as well as men and women whose only ‘crime’ was being Jewish, Israeli, or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
An unknown number of these hostages are still alive. What we do know is that many of these hostages were killed immediately, succumbed to their injuries, or were later murdered. A large number of their bodies remain in captivity.
Included in that list is Omer Neutra, a born and raised New Yorker, whose body Hamas has been holding since his murder on October 7. Originally assumed to be alive, his death was confirmed on Dec 2, 2024.
To conflate these individuals with the rioters of January 6 by labeling them both as ‘hostages,’ Trump, whether intending to or not, may diminish and cheapen the profound impact that the word ‘hostage’ should carry.
It should be very apparent to all that an innocent individual who is assaulted, abducted by terrorists, and defiled shouldn’t be labeled the same as a group of individuals who committed the appalling acts carried out on January 6.
How Trump lacked to see that points to a failure in recognizing the difference between victims and perpetrators.