United States' Vice-President-elect, JD Vance said people who were responsible for violent acts during the “January 6” Capitol riot should not be pardoned.
During an interview with Fox News’ Shannon Beam, Vance said people’s individual offences will be weighed up when considering their pardons.
"If you protested peacefully on January 6th, and you've had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned," Vance said.
"If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned, and there's a little bit of a grey area there, but we're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law.”
This comes off the back of President-elect Donald Trump claiming that he will pardon all of the January 6 rioters when he enters the White House on 20 January this year.
More than 1,500 people were charged with federal crimes in a riot that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers into hiding as they met to certify Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.
The charges ranged from hundreds of misdemeanours for illegally entering the capitol to felony offences, including assault for beating police officers. This includes leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
After the interview, Vance took to X to defend himself after receiving backlash from Republican supporters who believe his claims were a step back from the promises Trump made in the past.
“I've been defending these guys for years,” he said.
“The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback.”
“I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial.”
In his Fox News interview, Vance also discussed the California wildfires.
“There is a serious lack of competent governance in California, and I think it's part of the reason why these fires have gotten so bad,” he said.
“We need to do a better job at both the state and federal level."