The clemency decision includes those convicted of serious and violent crimes, including assaulting police officers. The president also ordered the attorney general to dismiss all pending cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Mr. Trump has previously called all those arrested, tried and convicted "hostages."
Our family has been asked to comment on the pardoning of the rioters who sacked the Nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021, including the man who assaulted our son with a deadly weapon, and his accomplice. There are no words that adequately describe the pain of losing Brian, and the suffering we have endured every day since, never to end. The pardons are intended to "end a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated on the American people, and to begin the process of national reconciliation." It is up to the American people to decide whether this purpose will be achieved, involving far more serious questions than how our family feels about the death of a son and brother, and the undoing of the justice that was previously determined by the Court's sentencing of Brian's assailants. It is our hope that the truth of what happened that tragic day will survive, irrespective of partisan political objectives. We are proud of our son's defense of American Democracy, and the continued efforts of his fellow officers to safeguard the seat of government, and the Constitution which guides it; our hearts go out to them as they cope with all that has occurred, and we pray for their strength and fortitude to continue their important mission.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer and New Jersey native Brian Sicknick died after riotous mob attacked nation's capital.
U.S. Capitol Police photo
The D.C. medical examiner's office previously said Sicknick died of natural causes after suffering from two strokes at the base of his brainstem caused by a clot in an artery and noted that "all that transpired played a role in his condition," a reference to his defense of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
"He has blood on his hands," Gladys Sicknick previously said. "And I don't care. People say, 'Oh, but Brian died from strokes.' Because of what he was going through, I'm sure, because he was very intense and I'm sure that helped."
Mr. Trump has repeatedly sought to downplay the events of Jan. 6, and called the prosecutors in some of the cases "brutal."
U.S. Capitol Police officers guard the remains of Officer Brian Sicknick on February 3, 2021.
Demetrius Freeman / Getty
Tri-State Area lawmakers react to Trump's executive order
Separately, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is also responding to the pardons, calling the decision "sickening."
"These mass pardons are sickening — the ultimate disrespect for police officers who were assaulted brutally by criminal rioters, suffering lasting injuries and death in some cases. Giving a blanket pass to cop killers and other insurrectionists, convicted by juries of everyday Americans, discredits justice and law enforcement. Shame on Republican colleagues who were protected that terrible day and now stay silent," Blumenthal, a Democrat, said.
"Fifteen hundred people, some of them who engaged in violence, who will never be held accountable for their crimes. It basically just guarantees that that will happen again," Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, also took issue with the pardons.
"I was very clear from the very beginning, what happened on Jan. 6 was wrong, it never should've happened. And I fundamentally believe those who commit an act of violence should always be held accountable. So look, obviously, I disagree with the decision, but ultimately this is the power of the presidency and the power of the party," Lawler said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was among the Democrats slamming the pardons, saying in a statement, "House Republicans are celebrating pardons issued to a bloodthirsty mob that violently assaulted police officers on January 6, 2021. What happened to backing the Blue?"
Other lawmakers felt differently.
"I may not always agree with all of it. I think some of those protesters are some who were just walking through the Capitol, were treated very unfairly," New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said.
"If things that he does that I disagree on, I will reach out to the president," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
Jesse Zanger is the managing editor of CBSNewYork.com. Jesse has previously worked for the Fox News Channel and Spectrum News NY1. He covers regional news around the Tri-State Area, with a particular focus on breaking news and extreme weather.
