Ron DeSantis hints he will pardon the Proud Boys, who were sentenced to up to 22 years each in the January 6 Capitol riots – as he condemns their “excessive sentences”.

Ron DeSantis has indicated that if elected president, he would consider pardoning the Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The Florida governor took aim at the “excessive penalties” imposed on the activists. The longest of these was imposed on Tuesday against the group’s former leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the violation.

The sentences for the four Proud Boys leaders sent behind bars range from 15 to 22 years, though Tarrio’s long stay has been felt by some to be harsh since he wasn’t even in Washington, DC at the time of the riot .

Desantis, 44, waived a blanket pardon as he admitted there were “people who probably committed wrongdoing, possibly they were violent,” but said there was a double standard over the lack of prosecution of BLM rioters.

Tarrio is among several other senior former or current leaders of the Proud Boys who have been convicted of the Jan. 6 attack, and prosecutors continue to add to the number of over 1,100 people charged in the siege.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said if he is elected president he will look at the sentences passed on some Jan. 6 rioters

Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced this week to 22 years in prison for his role in organizing the January 6, 2021 riots

DeSantis hinted at pardoning the Proud Boys in an interview with Newsmax’s Eric Bolling Wednesday, a day after Tarrio’s incarceration.

When asked if he would pardon or commute the sentences imposed on the group, which ranged from 15 to 22 years, DeSantis said he would “look at all of those cases” if he became president.

“There are some examples of people who shouldn’t have been prosecuted.” “They just went to the Capitol,” he said, arguing that if they had been BLM protesters they would not have been prosecuted.

“Then there are other examples of people who are likely to have committed wrongdoing, they might have been violent,” he continued.

“But to say it was an act of terrorism when it was basically a protest that culminated in a riot to impose excessive penalties – you can imagine, okay, maybe they were guilty, but 22 years when other people who did other things got six months.” ?’

He concluded with a veiled dig at the recent criminal prosecution against Donald Trump, which some Republicans say is biased by President Biden’s Justice Department for demanding “a unified standard of justice.”

“We will use pardons and commutations where appropriate to ensure everyone is treated equally and as we know many people involved in the BLM riots have not been prosecuted at all.”

Trump supporters surround a noose and gallows near the Capitol on January 6

Members of the Proud Boys, including Zachary Rehl (left), Ethan Nordean (center) and Joseph Biggs, go to the US Capitol in Washington to support President Donald Trump

Ethan Nordean, member of the Proud Boys, walks to the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 to support President Donald Trump

Prosecutors are asking for more than three decades in prison in Tarrio’s case because they have accused him of leading a conspiracy to use violence in the January 6 riots.

Tarrio spoke about “revolutions” and the “storming” of the Capitol complex before January 6, but was not in the capital at the time, having been arrested upon entering the capital on January 5, 2021 for a previous offense of burning “Black Lives Matter” was arrested on a flag and several weapons charges.

He was prosecuted by self-proclaimed Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs for the siege. He sobbed as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his involvement in the riot on Thursday after pleading for leniency in caring for his daughter and ailing mother.

The judge ruled that Biggs was eligible for a terrorism sentence for tearing down a fence that stood between police and rioters.

Ethan Nordean, who prosecutors said was the leader of the Proud Boys at the scene on January 6, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, setting the record for the longest sentence in the attack at the time before he was arrested Tarrio was beaten.

Prosecutors had asked for 27 years in prison for Nordean, who was a Seattle-area chapter president of the Proud Boys.

The Proud Boys’ lawyers deny there was any plan to attack the Capitol or to stop the president’s transfer of power.

“There is no evidence that Tarrio directed any attendees to storm the US Capitol before or during the event,” Tarrio’s attorneys wrote in court filings.

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio (pictured with co-defendant Joseph Biggs) has been found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6, 2021 riots

Police arrested Tarrio on January 4, 2021 in Washington on charges of defacing a Black Lives Matter banner during a previous rally in the nation’s capital. However, police officials later said he was arrested in part over concerns about the possibility of unrest during the certification.

He complied with a court order to leave town after his arrest.

On January 6, dozens of Proud Boys leaders, members and associates were among the first rioters to breach the Capitol. The mob attack overwhelmed police, forced lawmakers to flee the House and Senate, and disrupted the joint session of Congress to confirm Biden’s victory.

The backbone of the government’s lawsuit was hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6.

In one notable instance, as the Proud Boys crowded the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, writing on social media, “Do what needs to be done.” Later in the day, in an encrypted Proud Boys group chat, someone asked what they should do next.

Tarrio replied, “Do it again.”

“Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote in another message. “We did that.”