DOJ Moves to Erase Oath Keepers, Proud Boys Convictions Over J6

The move goes beyond the sweeping clemency action taken by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in January 2025, when he pardoned or commuted sentences for more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

While several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders received sentence commutations at that time, many convictions technically remained in place. The latest DOJ action seeks to permanently erase those convictions altogether, potentially dismissing the indictments with prejudice and preventing future prosecution.

The reversal represents a stunning shift from the Biden administration’s approach, which treated the prosecutions as a cornerstone effort to hold accountable those accused of orchestrating violence intended to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.