On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol building was attacked by people supporting Donald Trump’s attempt to stop the certification of President Biden’s election to America’s highest office. The events on January 6 were violent, killing five people and injuring 140 police officers.
Now, four years on, the white supremacist Proud Boys, who were instrumental in the planning and execution of the attack, and those who share their beliefs, have once again taken to social media to spread anti-democratic propaganda about January 6 and those involved in it. Several Proud Boys’ chapters have made posts celebrating the insurrection anniversary, with many choosing to highlight Trump’s promise to grant January 6 rioters clemency. Other posters on fringe platforms have called for the imprisonment, and execution, of their political enemies.
The Proud Boys organized around Trump leading up to the 2024 presidential election, and now with his upcoming inauguration, have begun ramping up their calls to release those imprisoned for their involvement in the insurrection. This week, on Telegram, Proud Boys from across the country wished their followers a “happy January 6th” and celebrated the riots as “one of the greatest days in American history” which occurred as a “historic response to a clearly and diabolically stolen election.” Enrique Tarrio, former national leader of the Proud Boys, who received a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy, posted “The nightmare of J6 is not over until everyone is pardoned and returned home to their family and friends. #PardonAllJ6,” as well as a letter from his lawyer formally asking Trump for a pardon.
Tarrio shares a letter to Trump asking for a pardon (Source: Telegram)
Proud Boys Ohio, Proud Boys of Columbus, and self-identifying Proud Boys like Billy Knutson (aka “Playboy The Beast”) celebrated the attack’s anniversary and called for rioters to be pardoned and released from prison. Proud Boys Ohio stated that “every J6 political prisoner” should be pardoned, while Proud Boys of Columbus called for Trump to “end the unjust and unlawful imprisonment of the J6 political prisoners, and purge the bureaucratic filth from their entrenched and unelected positions,” the latter request seemingly aimed at the January 6th House Select Committee that investigated and reported on the insurrection.
The Toledo Proud Boys shared a post claiming that “The Desperate Democrats / Deep State are plotting to block President Trump’s election certification on Jan 6th and trigger a civil war!” (Harris followed the Constitution and certified the election on January 6, 2025). On a Proud Boys chat group, users spurred each other on to stay active with the Proud Boys by saying “J6 should be the start, not the end of retaking our nation.” The Toledo Proud Boys, Proud Boys New Jersey, and Cape Fear Proud Boys also all took the opportunity to post recruiting messages on January 6, encouraging their followers to find their local Proud Boys chapter.
A Proud Boys chat group member, galvanized by Trump’s victory, tells the other chat members that “J6 should be the start, not the end of retaking our nation.” (Source: Telegram)
On Twitter, users who claimed to vote for Trump escalated rhetoric against Democrats and the January 6 Select committee, justifying their votes as a means to “exonerate & release every J6 prisoner… As well as to prosecute every politician & government worker who was involved in the staging of this false event.” Similarly, they called on Trump to “free every last prisoner and imprison everyone on the J6 committee,” “put one Democrat in” for every “j6 political prisoner we pull out,” “lock the J6 Committee up for TREASON!!!,” and one comment saying “heads need to roll over this. Literally. [Liz] Cheney is #1 at the gallows.” Cheney was vice chair of the Select Committee.
User “Frank Castle,” presumably named after the Marvel Comics vigilante anti-hero commonly idolized by the far right, threatens Liz Cheney with “the gallows” for being part of a “criminal government” responsible for staging the January 6 riots. (Source: Twitter)
Some political figures also weighed in, such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), who claimed that “J6’ers” were targeted by the “politically weaponized [Department of Justice].” Gene Valentino, former Escambia, Florida, county commissioner, quoted Taylor-Greene’s tweet, saying “every jail employee is culpable for J6 political prisoner abuse” and that “Justice Department employees who persecuted [J6ers]” should be “prosecute[d] to the fullest extent.” Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes called January 6th “PATRIOTS DAY” and tagged Donald Trump in a post saying “PARDON ALL J6 PRISONERS!!!”
Responding to an article by The Gateway Pundit, user ChrisJMyers0519 calls for those prosecuting rioters “to be executed for Treason.” (Source: Gab)
On Gab, a platform similar to Twitter, many users called for the release of “J6 hostages,” while others asserted that since “a pardon indicates an assumption of the guilty verdict,” they “must be overturned and the people compensated for their illegal incarceration,” and “those that conspired to steal the J6’ers freedom need to be executed for Treason.”
It remains unclear if Trump will fulfill the expectations by extremists like the Proud Boys and commute the sentences of all those imprisoned for their actions on January 6th. There is sure to be angry disappointment in the racist and antigovernment movements if Trump fails to fulfill his promises, and instead, leaves the most violent offenders and the former leader of the Proud Boys remain imprisoned. Considering the Proud Boys and their allies’ clear penchant for political violence, current online activity should serve as a warning sign for things to come if they believe Trump isn’t acting in their interests.
