Trump’s pardons will embolden Proud Boys, other far-right groups, say experts

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A protester yells inside the Senate Chamber on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (AFP file photo)
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A Proud Boy member smokes a cigar on January 21, 2025 outside the DC Central Detention Facility in Washington, DC. On January 20th, Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 criminal defendants who were charged in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AFP)
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Updated 22 January 2025
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Trump’s pardons will embolden Proud Boys, other far-right groups, say experts

  • Gavin McInnes, the British-born founder of the Proud Boys, said in an interview that he and his friends were celebrating late on Monday by “pounding bourbons and laughing our heads off”
  • “Our politics has always been violent,” Pattis said, pointing to events ranging from the US Civil War to the protests in the 1960s

WASHINGTON: A day after US President Donald Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, America’s far-right celebrated. Some called for the death of judges who oversaw the trials. Others partied and expressed relief. Some even wept with joy.
Several experts who study extremism said the extraordinary reversal for rioters who committed both violent and nonviolent crimes on Jan. 6, including assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy, will embolden the Proud Boys and other extremist groups such as white supremacists who have openly called for political violence.

In a few pen strokes, Trump reversed the largest US Justice Department investigation and prosecution in history, as he attempted to rewrite what happened during the violent riot on Jan. 6, 2021. As he took office for a second term on Monday, Trump continued to claim, falsely, that the 2020 election was rigged and that he was the rightful winner. He has described the riots as a peaceful “day of love” rather than a melee aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 US presidential election.




William Sarsfield, who was released from serving time for his charges related to January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, wears his prison shoes, after U.S. President Donald Trump made a sweeping pardon of nearly everyone charged in the January 6, 2021 attack, in Washington, U.S. January 21, 2025. (REUTERS)

“We’re not going to put up with that crap anymore,” Trump said at a post-inauguration rally on Monday, describing the Jan. 6 offenders as “hostages.”
For the convicted Jan. 6 defendants, and for the Trump faithful, the pardons were vindication for unjust persecutions by the president’s political enemies.
Gavin McInnes, the British-born founder of the Proud Boys, said in an interview that he and his friends were celebrating late on Monday by “pounding bourbons and laughing our heads off.”
Before the 2020 election, Trump told the Proud Boys – a violent all-male extremist group – to “stand back and stand by.” Three months later, federal prosecutors say, the group’s leaders plotted the Jan. 6 attack.
“This is a victory for us,” said McInnes, now a right-wing podcaster. If Trump hadn’t given all the Proud Boys clemency, the president would have been “dead to me, and Proud Boys and MAGA and everyone,” he said. “But luckily that didn’t happen.”
In a video posted online shortly after the pardons, convicted rioter Christopher Kuehne, a Marine veteran from Kansas who traveled to Washington with the Proud Boys in January 2021, sobbed: “I am finally free. I don’t even have the words to thank President Trump for what he has done for us.” He was sentenced in February to 75 days in prison and 24 months of supervised release for obstructing law enforcement.
Another Proud Boy told Reuters the pardons would help recruit more members. “A lot of people stayed away from us after there were arrests,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Now they are going to feel like they are bulletproof.”
The riot began after Trump rallied thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress certified Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Inspired by Trump’s baseless rigged-election claims, they swarmed the Capitol, setting off pitched battles with police. Some bludgeoned officers with makeshift weapons that included metal pipes, wooden poles and baseball bats. Prosecutors said the rioters carried firearms, tasers, swords, hatchets and knives.
Four people died on the day of the attack, including a woman protester shot by police. One Capitol Police officer who fought the rioters died the next day. Another 140 officers were injured. Four officers who responded to the riot later committed suicide.
Norm Pattis, a defense attorney who represents three Proud Boys and the leader of the Oath Keepers, a militia, dismissed the notion that the sweeping clemency would somehow lead to an increase in political violence.
“Our politics has always been violent,” Pattis said, pointing to events ranging from the US Civil War to the protests in the 1960s. “And so a few-hours riot at the Capitol is going to warrant years, decades behind bars? For some people, it’s disproportionate, and in my view just repulsive.”

“YOU NEED ACCOUNTABILITY”
Two police officers who were beaten while trying to hold off the crowd said the pardons were a chilling sign that loyalty to Trump is now more important than the rule of law.
“It’s outrageous,” former DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone told Reuters. Fanone suffered a heart attack and a brain injury after he was beaten, sprayed with chemical irritants and shocked with a stun gun during the Jan. 6 violence. Fanone, 44, who spent 20 years as a police officer, said the pardons likely will inspire other supporters to violence, “because they believe Donald Trump will grant them a pardon. And why wouldn’t they believe that?”
Aquilino Gonell, a former US Capitol Police sergeant who was injured defending the Capitol, said Trump’s pardons had nothing to do with righting an injustice. Trump and his Republican allies “have lost their claim to having moral high ground when defending our system of governance, the constitution, and supporting the police,” he said.
Among the pardoned were more than 300 who pleaded guilty to either assaulting or obstructing law enforcement, including 69 who admitted to assaulting police with a dangerous or deadly weapon. Trump’s order commuted the sentences of 14 convicted of serious crimes, including Stewart Rhodes, former leader of the Oath Keepers. Trump also issued pardons for others, including former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy.
Nearly 300 rioters had links to 46 far-right groups or movements, according to a study from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, a University of Maryland-based network of scholars that tracks and analyzes terrorist incidents.
Heather Shaner, a Washington lawyer who served as a court-appointed defense attorney for more than 40 of the defendants, called the pardons an attempt to whitewash history. “You need accountability,” she said in an interview. “Only by acknowledging the truth and providing accountability can you move forward.”
Some political extremism experts said the pardons would incentivize pro-Trump vigilantes to commit violence under the belief they’ll receive legal immunity if they act in the interests of Trump. “They are going to feel they can do whatever they want,” Julie Farnam, who was the assistant director of intelligence for the US Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 riots, said of far-right groups. “
They’ll feel like they can because there is no leadership in the United States that tries to stop it,” said Farnam, who now runs a private investigative agency.
Couy Griffin, who was stripped of his seat as a New Mexico county commissioner after he was convicted of trespassing on Capitol grounds, said he instructed his attorney to decline Trump’s pardon, as he appeals his conviction in federal court. In an interview, Griffin said he believes Trump’s enemies distorted the truth about the Capitol riots.
“Was there some violence against police officers? Yes, there was also a lot of violence of police officers against the crowd,” he said, echoing a frequent complaint of Trump supporters.

DEATH THREATS TO JURISTS, POLITICIANS
Many Trump supporters praised the pardons in right-wing online forums. Some threatened those who supported the prosecutions.
On the pro-Trump website Patriots.Win, at least two dozen people expressed hopes for executions of Democrats, judges or law enforcement linked to the Jan. 6 cases. They called for jurists or police to be hanged, pummeled to death, ground up in wood chippers or thrown from helicopters.
“Gather the entire federal judiciary into a stadium. Then have them listen and watch while the judges are beaten to death,” one wrote. “Cut their heads off and put them on pikes outside” the Justice Department.
Others called for killing Trump’s political critics after former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an influential Democrat, called the pardons “an outrageous insult.” “If someone successfully whacked Pelosi, I would consider them a hero,” one Patriots.Win commenter wrote. Another wished for Liz Cheney, the Republican who defied Trump by spearheading the congressional investigation of the violence, to “hang.”
One of the most famous rioters, Jake Angeli-Chansley, who became known as the “QAnon Shaman” for wearing a horned hat in the Capitol, took to the social media platform X to celebrate after the pardons. Sentenced to 41 months in prison in 2021, he was released from federal custody in 2023.
“NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHAFU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”

 


Thailand says assured of Uyghurs’ safety after US visa bans

Updated 10 sec ago
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Thailand says assured of Uyghurs’ safety after US visa bans

  • Thailand on Saturday responded to a United States visa ban on officials from the kingdom involved in deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, saying it had “received assurances” of their safety
BANGKOK: Thailand on Saturday responded to a United States visa ban on officials from the kingdom involved in deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, saying it had “received assurances” of their safety.
The Thai government has suffered intense criticism from around the world for its decision to hand over at least 40 Uyghurs, who were flown by special plane to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region in late February.
The Uyghurs had spent years languishing in Thai detention facilities after fleeing China more than a decade ago.
On Friday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on an unspecified number of former or current officials from Thailand involved in the deportation.
Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Saturday it noted the US decision adding it had “received assurances from the Government of China concerning the safety of the Uyghurs.”
It said Thailand “will continue to follow up on the well-being of this group.”
Thailand is the oldest US ally in Asia but maintains friendly relations with Beijing.
“Thailand has always and will continue to value the long-standing and close treaty alliance with the United States,” the statement said.
The United States accuses China of genocide over its mass camps for Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
China rejects the accusations and says it is providing vocational education to improve Uyghurs’ future.

Ukraine says shot down 130 Russian drones launched overnight

Updated 20 min 25 sec ago
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Ukraine says shot down 130 Russian drones launched overnight

KYIV: Ukraine said Saturday it had downed 130 Russian-launched drones across the country at night, as international efforts to end the three-year war intensify.
Kyiv’s air force said the Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over 14 regions and that Moscow had also attacked with two ballistic missiles.


Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026

Updated 15 March 2025
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Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026

Washington: SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow “as soon as 2029.”
“Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,” Musk said on his X social network.
Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — is key to Musk’s long-term vision of colonizing Mars.
NASA is also awaiting a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander for its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon this decade.
But before SpaceX can carry out those missions, it must prove the vehicle is reliable, safe for crew, and capable of complex in-orbit refueling — critical for deep space missions.
SpaceX faced a setback this month when its latest test flight of the Starship prototype ended in a fiery explosion, even as the booster was successfully caught in its orbital test.
It was a near replay of the previous attempt.
Minutes after liftoff and booster separation, a live video feed showed the upper stage tumbling uncontrollably before the signal abruptly cut.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said SpaceX will be required to conduct an investigation before it can fly again.


After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent

Updated 15 March 2025
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After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent

  • Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses
  • International students say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country

In the span of a week, a hush has descended on higher education in the United States.
International students and faculty have watched the growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University with apprehension. Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses.
The elite New York City university has been the focus of the Trump administration’s effort to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges last year.
Federal immigration agents have arrested two foreigners — one of them a student — who protested last year at Columbia. They’ve revoked the visa of another student, who fled the US this week. Department of Homeland Security agents also searched the on-campus residences of two Columbia students on Thursday but did not make any arrests there.
GOP officials have warned it’s just the beginning, saying more student visas are expected to be revoked in the coming days.
Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism issued a statement reporting “an alarming chill” among its foreign students in the past week.
“Many of our international students have felt afraid to come to classes and to events on campus,” said the statement signed by “The Faculty of Columbia Journalism School.”
It added: “They are right to be worried.”
Alarm at campuses across the country
International students and faculty across the US say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country.
“Green-card-holding faculty members involved in any kind of advocacy that might be construed as not welcome by the Trump administration are absolutely terrified of the implications for their immigration status,” said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
Dubal, who is also general counsel for the American Association of University Professors, says some international faculty are now shying away from discourse, debate, scholarly research and publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals.
“We are literally not hearing their voices. There is a silencing happening that has a huge impact on the vibrancy of higher education,” Dubal said. “People are very, very scared.”
The first arrest
The first publicly known arrest occurred last Saturday, when federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and outspoken graduate student, in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus.
Khalil has become the face of President Donald Trump’s drive to punish what he calls antisemitic and anti-American protests that swept US campuses last year. Khalil, a legal US resident with a green card, is being held in a federal detention complex in Louisiana.
Students and faculty who participated in the protests at Columbia have insisted criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights isn’t antisemitic. Some Jewish students and faculty say the anti-Israel rhetoric made them feel unsafe.
Civil rights advocates say the detention of Khalil is an assault on free speech. But the ongoing arrests send a wider message that disagreeing with the Trump administration could get you kicked out of the country, said Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“If the administration can do this to Mr. Khalil because of the speech about Palestine, it can do it to any non-US citizen who takes a position on hot-button global issues, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, the tariffs imposed against US allies or the rise of far-right political parties in Europe,” he said.
That worry has spread outside New York.
A Bangladeshi student at Louisiana State University, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has stopped posting about anything political on social media since the first arrest at Columbia. She fears losing her green card.
“I feel like it’s not safe for me to share those things anymore because I have a fear that a quote-unquote ‘authoritarian regime’ is lurking over social media posts,” the student said. When she lived in Bangladesh, she said, people could be arrested for posting dissent on social media. “What I fear is a similar situation in the United States.”
Advice from colleges and universities
Some schools have been advising international students to be cautious of what they say publicly and to watch what they say online. Several international students on a variety of college campuses said they preferred not to speak with a reporter out of concern for their immigration status.
Administrators at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism have warned students who are not US citizens about their vulnerability to arrest or deportation.
“Nobody can protect you, these are dangerous times,” the school’s dean, Jelani Cobb, said in a post Thursday on Bluesky explaining the comment. “I went on to say that I would do everything in my power to defend our journalists and their right to report but that none of us had the capacity to stop DHS from jeopardizing their safety.”
At the University of California, Davis, the Global Affairs Program has updated its website with guidance on the First Amendment and advice on free speech for non-US citizens.
“While international students and scholars have broad rights to freedom of speech and lawful assembly, please be aware that being arrested or detained by law enforcement may trigger current and/or future immigration consequences,” the school says on its website. “Each person should take appropriate care and utilize their best judgment.”
Escalations after Khalil’s arrest
Immigration authorities’ activities at Columbia quickly escalated this week.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by immigration officers for overstaying her student visa, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The former student’s visa was terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance,” the department said. She was previously arrested for her involvement in protests at Columbia in April 2024, the agency added.
The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student at Columbia University, for allegedly “advocating for violence and terrorism.” Srinivasan opted to “self-deport” Tuesday, five days after her visa was revoked, the department said.
The president has warned the arrest and attempted deportation of Khalil will be the “first of many.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday that more student visas were likely to be revoked in the coming days.


US declares South Africa’s ambassador persona non grata

Updated 15 March 2025
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US declares South Africa’s ambassador persona non grata

  • The US State Department and South Africa’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday declared Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa’s ambassador to the US, persona non grata, calling the envoy a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and President Donald Trump.
“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio said.
Rasool presented his credentials to then-President Joe Biden on January 13, a week before Trump took office, marking the start of the envoy’s tenure, according to the South African embassy’s website. It said this was Rasool’s second stint in Washington.
The US State Department and South Africa’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, posted on X that the government “will engage through the diplomatic channel.”
Ties between the United States and South Africa have deteriorated since Trump cut US financial aid to the country, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington’s ally Israel.
Trump has said, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.”
South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said white South Africans have been the victims of “racist ownership laws.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill in January aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner.
Ramaphosa has defended the policy and said the government had not confiscated any land. The policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation, he said.