Hundreds of defendants on Jan. 6. they are preparing to seek compensation from Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund
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Hundreds of people are being prosecuted for crimes related to the attack on Jan. 6 in the US Capitol in 2021 they plan to seek compensation from the US government once the new taxpayer-funded anti-arms program is up and running.
The group of lawyers representing the defendants on 6 Jan. works with more than 450 people who read claims on the basis that they have been wrongfully persecuted.
“There will be justice in this case, one way or another,” said Treniss Evans, founder of Condemned USA and a defendant who was pardoned on January 6.
“This separated families. People were destroyed because the false story of a coup d’état is happening.”
Merrick Garland, former general counsel for the Biden administration, he has repeatedly denied allegations that he is doing politics and he said his decisions follow the facts and the law.
In an interview with CBC News, Evans, who says he is a former government contractor and paralegal, suggested the total number of applicants could be much higher. He also predicted significant payouts for other applicants.
“I’m sure some of them will be the eight places people are looking for in these stories.”
New $2B US fund
Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice unveiled plans to create a $1.7 billion US Anti-Arms Fund, where Americans who feel they have been unfairly prosecuted during the previous Biden administration can apply for taxpayer compensation.
US President Donald Trump has been complaining for a long time about how the January 6 criminal cases are being followed up. When he returned to office in 2025, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people for crimes related to the violent attack, in which thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in support of his false allegation that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election. They destroyed property and looted offices, while other insurgents harassed law enforcement officers.
“I am helping others, who have been wronged by the corrupt, corrupt and armed Biden Administration, get, finally, JUSTICE!” Trump wrote on social media.
The fund is considered highly controversial, and has caused bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill.
Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, described it as a “MAGA fund,” calling it “the most blatant act of corruption in American history.”
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina described him as “a fool on stilts.”
There is also backlash among some in the police community.
Michael Fanone, a former police officer in Washington, DC, who was severely beaten during the riots, says he was very angry after hearing about the bag.
However, he says this type of move by the Trump administration is predictable.
“Anybody in America … who’s shocked or surprised by this has not been paying attention,” he told CBC News.
“This is what Trump’s supporters voted for, so my anger has turned … to the American people for betraying me and my colleagues who are fighting to protect democracy,” he said.
“What did we do for you?
Few details are public
The US Department of Justice says a five-person committee will be selected to adjudicate the claims, with the Department leading the selection process. Lawmakers in Congress are expected to contribute to the election of one of the five members.
Currently, there are no parameters as to who would be eligible for compensation.
Evans expects all defendants to appear on Jan. 6. eligible, including people convicted, and later pardoned, of violent crimes.
CBC political reporter Rosemary Barton talks to convicted US Capitol rioter Pamela Hemphill about why she refused President Donald Trump’s pardon.
He says that they should be included because he believes that they have not received the appropriate cases. He accuses the media of defaming the judges, and says the government presented a false story to the public on Jan 6.
“Nobody was properly convicted as our laws require,” he said.
“You will never get rid of what the media says by calling people rebels.”
Evans was at the Capitol during the protest, and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges of trespassing into the building. His case received a lot of attention, after he admitted to drinking whiskey in the office of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
