An accused “white supremacist” and a man who wore a sweatshirt referencing the Holocaust during the Capitol riots are among the so-called “January 6 hostages” pardoned by Donald Trump.
The newly-elected President referred to those prosecuted over the disorder, which sought to overturn the result of the 2020 election, as “patriots”.
But some of the 1,500 who have now been handed pardons seemingly have connections to the far-right.
Among those given “full, complete and unconditional” pardons were senior members of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group long accused of antisemitism.
Hatchet Speed, a Proud Boys member who was sentenced to four years behind bars for his role in the January 6 riots, reportedly expressed admiration for Hitler and discussed a plan to ‘wipe out’ American Jews in conversations with an undercover FBI agent.
Also included in mass pardoning was Robert Keith Packer, who was pictured at the Capitol wearing an antisemitic sweatshirt.
The black-and-white hoodie bore a skull design similar to the infamous Totenkopf used by the SS and was emblazoned with the words “Camp Auschwitz”.
Below the design sat the slogan “work brings freedom”, a translation of the infamous phrase “Arbeit macht frei” which sat above the gates of the Nazi death camps.
Robert Keith Packer was pardoned for his role in the unrest, during which he wore an antisemitic sweatshirt (Image: X/Republicans Against Trump)
Meanwhile, clemency was also extended to Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was described by prosecutors at his trial as a “white supremacist and Nazi sympathiser”.
Hale-Cusanelli, a former contractor for the US Navy, was pictured sporting a Hitler-style moustache, which he reportedly wore to work at a naval base.
An internal probe by the Navy reportedly saw 34 of his colleagues accuse him of holding “extremist or radical views pertaining to the Jewish people, minorities and women”. One officer even claimed that Hale-Cusanelli had remarked that “Hitler should have finished the job”, in reference to the Holocaust, according to The Washington Post.
Clemency was also granted to alleged 'Nazi sympathiser' Timothy Hale-Cusanelli (Image: US Department of Justice)
A report by NPR also stated that Hale-Cusanelli had given speeches at Trump’s golf club in Bedminister, NJ, on two occasions in 2024. In response, Trump press secratary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump did not attend these events, and, of course, he absolutely condemns bigotry and hatred of any kind.”
However, just this week Hale-Cusanelli posted an image on X showing that he had apparently received an invitation to the new President’s inauguration, as well as several pictures of him attending a Trump rally in Washington DC the previous evening.
It is not clear who issued the invitation and, indeed, whether it is genuine.
