By Tim Reid
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Reuters) – donald trump said Friday that his supporters prosecuted for their actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol should be released, citing a Supreme Court ruling in favor of a man who challenged a related obstruction charge. to the riot — a charge Trump also faces.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Virginia, the former president highlighted Friday’s ruling, which raised the legal bar for prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges in the federal election subversion case against Trump and the defendants involved in the attack.
“Release the January 6th hostages now. They should release them now because of what they went through,” Trump said, as the crowd cheered.
“They have been waiting for this decision for a long time,” Trump added.
Trump is the Republican candidate who challenges the Democrats President Joe Biden in the November 5 US elections.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to reject a lower court’s decision that had allowed a charge of corrupt obstruction of an official process – the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump that protesters tried to prevent – against defendant Joseph Fischer, a former police officer. The justices instructed the trial court to reconsider the matter.
The decision was a potential boost for Trump, who was hit with two obstruction-related charges as part of a four-count criminal indictment in a case brought last year by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
“This is great for the people who were treated so horribly,” Trump said of the decision.
Trump has frequently praised his supporters convicted for their roles in the attack on the Capitol, calling them “patriots” and “warriors”. Among other crimes, some of them were prosecuted for violence against police officers.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling on Monday on Trump’s claim to presidential immunity from prosecution in the election subversion case brought by the special counsel. It is the last day of the court’s current term.
(Reporting by Tim Reid, Kanishka Singh and Nathan Layne; Editing by Leslie Adler and Will Dunham)
