More than a dozen people identified by the previous administration as members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and arrested for involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol Riot were pardoned this week by President Donald Trump.

Four years after they raided the Capitol and assaulted police officers, a group of some of the most violent Jan. 6 rioters are now free men.

The return of battle-hardened leaders ... will further radicalize and fuel recruitment platforms,” said Jacob Ware, a Council on Foreign Relations research fellow.

Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, who received some of longest sentences for the US Capitol attack, freed from prison.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were released from prison on Tuesday, this coming after President Trump granted pardons to more than 1,

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in May 2023 after a jury found him guilty of conspiring to stop the transfer of power and other charges. In September 2023, Tarrio, who asked Trump for a full pardon on the fourth anniversary of the insurrection, was sentenced to 22 years.

He issued formal pardons to more than 1,550 rioters charged with a wide range of crimes and commuted the sentences of 14 members of far-right groups.

Five of the Oath Keepers who had sentences commuted by the president -- including Rhodes, who was facing 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy -- were military veterans.

A judge barred the Oath Keepers founder from Washington, D.C., without court approval after Trump commuted his prison sentence for the Capitol riot.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without the court’s approval after President Donald Trump commuted the far-right extremist group leader’s 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio were released from serving lengthy prison terms for convictions of seditious conspiracy.