CUMBERLAND, Maryland/WASHINGTON (Jan 21): Donald Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago began to leave prison on Tuesday after the newly installed president issued a sweeping pardon, signalling he intends to make aggressive use of his executive power.

The Republican president's pardon of 1,500 defendants on Monday, Inauguration Day, drew outrage from lawmakers who were endangered and from some of the 140 police officers injured in the attack on Jan 6, 2021, when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory.

"I have been betrayed by my country," Michael Fanone, a former officer with Washington's Metropolitan Police Department who suffered severe injuries during the riot, told CNN on Monday after Trump's announcement. "Tonight, six individuals who assaulted me as I did my job on Jan 6, as did hundreds of other law enforcement officers, will now walk free."

Trump's clemency extended from the people who committed only misdemeanors such as trespassing to those who assaulted police officers and to the far smaller group who planned the assault on democracy.

Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia who had his 18-year prison sentence commuted, was released shortly after midnight on Tuesday in Cumberland, Maryland. Rhodes, who wears an eye patch after an accident with a gun, got into a waiting car and was driven away in the early morning hours.

Rhodes did not enter the US Capitol on Jan 6, but he was found guilty of plotting to use force against Congress to prevent the election certification. He was also accused of helping to stockpile firearms at a hotel in nearby Virginia that could be ferried across the river to Washington, DC.

Rhodes was one of 14 leaders of Jan 6 whom Trump released from prison early, commuting their sentences, without fully pardoning them. That means they will continue to face some restrictions including a ban on owning firearms.

The family of Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, said his release was expected on Tuesday. Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on Jan 6, but was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the attack.

"Donald Trump is ushering in a Golden Age for people that break the law and attempt to overthrow the government," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The attack was spurred by Trump's refusal to acknowledge his defeat, which threatened the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in US history. Roughly 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack and four people died during the chaos.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended the pardons, claiming without evidence that many of the convictions were politically motivated.

"President Trump campaigned on this promise," she said on Fox News. "It should come as no surprise that he delivered on it on Day One."

More than 1,000 defendants pleaded guilty rather than go to trial, including 327 who pleaded guilty to felonies, according to Justice Department statistics.

The sweeping action went further than many of Trump's allies had signaled. Prior to Monday both Vice President JD Vance and Trump's attorney general choice Pam Bondi said they believed people who committed violence were unlikely to be pardoned.

Among those due to be released were leaders of the far-right Proud Boys organisation, including some convicted of seditious conspiracy. About 40 men wearing Proud Boys insignia traded insults with protesters on the streets of Washington during Trump's inauguration on Monday.

Others due for release include Dominic Pezzola, who was accused of stealing a police officer's riot shield and using it to smash a window, beginning the breach of the Capitol.

Trump's pardon was only one of a sheaf of executive orders he signed after an inauguration ceremony in the US Rotunda, where his supporters had rampaged four years earlier.

Trump also kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown, cut support for wind power and electric vehicles and cleared the way for oil drilling in the Arctic and in offshore areas. He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization.

He also delayed the ban of the popular TikTok video app that was due to be shuttered on Sunday.

However, Trump did not immediately impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada, as he had threatened to do.

Some of Trump's executive orders, such as one removing the guarantee of citizenship to those born in the US, could well be struck down in court.

His vow to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America drew a snicker during his swearing-in ceremony from Hillary Clinton, his Democratic 2016 presidential rival.

Other policy changes were already having a real-world impact. Along the US-Mexico border, migrants despaired when their asylum appointments were cancelled. Planes carrying more than 1,600 Afghan refugees who had been cleared for US entry were to be turned back.

Trump appears to be profiting from his return to power. A cryptocurrency he launched on Friday soared to more than US$10 billion (RM44.94 billion) in market value on Monday, while another crypto venture connected to him, World Liberty Financial, raised US$300 million in token sales.

Uploaded by Felyx Teoh