Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters Attend Trump's CPAC Appearance and Chant 'J6! J6!'

Many pardoned January 6 Capitol rioters attended the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday where they were largely hailed as heroes, with crowds even creating chants in support of them.

The conference, which began last Thursday, is the first large gathering of conservatives since the inauguration of President Donald Trump into his second presidential term. Trump strategist-turned-political commentator Steve Bannon excitedly announced the presence of pardoned January 6 rioters at the event, according to Time Magazine.

"The J6ers are here at CPAC!" Bannon exclaimed, earning cheers from the crowd.

On the first day of his second presidential term, Trump granted all January 6 rioters clemency, pardoning them of all crimes related to the incident. CPAC heavily embraced this sentiment, even including a panel titled "The J6 Sham."

"Now it's cool," said conservative commentator and CPAC panelist Julie Kelly, thanking Trump for pardoning the rioters. "Everyone's like, free the J6ers! It's the cause of the day, but it wasn't back then."

Pardoned rioters were incredibly upbeat at the conference, even starting chants such as "USA," "Get over it," and "J6".

Rioters including Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, were present at the convention, speaking to admirers who requested photos with them. However, Richard Barnett, the rioter who put his feet up onto then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk during the riots, was allegedly turned away from the convention.

"I am considered a national hero," Barnett said in a video he posted to social media. "I'm a J6er and I have an unlimited, unconditional presidential pardon from President Trump... I went when he called me, I stood up. I spent all this time in prison for my country."

"I don't understand why CPAC would do this to me," he added.

"It is untrue that we are not allowing people to come to CPAC because of their involvement with J6," CPAC responded in a statement posted to social media. "In fact, CPAC has been a constant supporter of this persecuted community and we support wholeheartedly President Trump's pardons of the J6 victims."