Capitol riots: Man convicted of taking part in disorder expects Trump to set him free

A man convicted of participating in the January 6 Capitol riots has told Sky News he expects Donald Trump to set him free.

Speaking from his Washington jail cell, Gregory Purdy said he anticipates the president-elect will “exonerate and pardon” him.

Mr Trump has said he intends to pardon “many” of the rioters whom he describes as “hostages”.

More than 1,100 people have been charged in connection with the 2021 assault on the Capitol, in which crowds stormed the building in an effort to block the certification of Joe Biden‘s election win.

More than 500 people have been handed jail sentences. Five people died and 140 police officers were injured.

President Biden fuelled the debate around pardons when he gave one to his son, Hunter, spanning 10 years and including two convictions – one for illegal gun possession and another for tax evasion.

Supporters of January 6 prisoners gather outside a jail in Washington DC for a nightly vigil. They communicate with inmates on the phone from a street corner outside the facility.

‘He will exonerate us’

We used the phone to speak to Gregory Purdy, who has been convicted of January 6 offences.

Asked about the prospect of a Trump pardon, he said: “He will exonerate and pardon us, I really do believe that will happen.”

“As far as Joe Biden pardoning his son, I don’t have a problem that he pardoned his son, what I have a problem with is he lied and said he wouldn’t,” he added.

Nicole Reffitt has attended most of the 800-plus vigils outside the Washington prison. Her husband, Guy Reffitt, was the first person convicted of January 6 offences.

Prosecutors said the Texan father-of-three, a member of the “Three Percenters” anti-government militia, “lit the match” of an insurrection.

The court heard he was armed with a handgun at the Capitol and had an automatic rifle in his car. His son, Jackson, had reported concerns about his father to the FBI in the weeks before January 6.

Nicole lives in a house a short drive from the facility where her husband is imprisoned. It accommodates relatives of Jan 6 prisoners, who travel from around the country to attend court and make prison visits.

She and her fellow occupants have labelled the property “eagle’s nest”, after the national bird of the United States. She rejects associations that have been made with Adolf Hitler’s “eagle’s nest”, his Bavarian retreat.

“You can do Hitler connotations with anything you want to,” she said. “Don’t drive a Volkswagen, how about that? The Nazis invented the Volkswagen.”

On the subject of a pardon, Nicole told Sky News: “Not everyone will ask for a pardon, many will ask for clemency… because there have been a lot of arguments made in court and those things have to stay on the record.”

When Joe Biden handed down the pardon to his son, Mr Trump reacted by posting on social media: “Does the pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.”

On the implications for her husband and fellow inmates, Nicole Reffitt said: “When you look at someone being pardoned for 10 years, a decade of any criminal activity that might have taken place – yeah, I think it shines very brightly on Jan Sixers, when many of them have no criminal record ever and this is their only offence.”