First J6ers released from prison after Trump signs pardons

The Valentin brothers, from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, were released from DC’s Central Detention Facility shortly before midnight, the New York Post reported.

White House liaison to the Justice Department Paul Ingrassia told reporters, "The first two January 6 defendants have been released. This is a few hours after President Trump signed his historic pardon." He said the pardon is a "monumental moment in our history."

He added, "This injustice is ending in America tonight and this dark chapter in our country’s history is coming to an end."

According to CNN, the Valentin brothers were sentenced on Friday to two and a half years in prison after they pleaded guilty in September. Matthew Valentin, 32, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and Andrew Valentin, 27, pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and one felony count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Attorney Thomas P Sundmaker wrote that his client, Andrew Valentin, did not enter the Capitol but did "unfortunately overreact to what he believed was excessive force directed at his brother" and "made a very rash and foolish move by throwing a plastic chair." He said that no one was injured by the chair, per the Pocono Record.

Attorney for Matthew Valentin, Joshua E. Karoly, said that his client "engaged in only a several second pushing and pulling episode” against officers with a bike rack barricade and did not enter the Capitol. During the episode, "his hand slipped through the bars and contacted an officer," Karoly wrote, and the brief contact "was not an attempt to strike or choke" the officer.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said that Matthew "violently grabbed an officer’s neck" and sprayed a "chemical irritant" toward officers. Andrew was said to have thrown a chair at officers. The brothers stole batons from police and berated cops, the office said.

Late Monday evening, Trump signed pardons for around 1,500 people who had been prosecuted by former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice over January 6. He said during the signing that he hoped that the prisoners would be released that night.