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Trump Again Hints at Jan. 6 Pardons, Including for Attacks on Police

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Trump Again Hints at Jan. 6 Pardons, Including for Attacks on Police

President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday once again left open the possibility of offering pardons to some of his supporters who are serving prison time for assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mr. Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to restore “law and order,” said that the pardons he intended to offer could cover people charged and convicted of violent crimes.

“Well, we’re looking at it,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, when asked whether he was considering pardoning people charged with violent offenses. “We’ll be looking at the whole thing, but I’ll be making major pardons, yes.”

When a reporter pressed Mr. Trump on whether he would pardon anyone who attacked a police officer, Mr. Trump deflected and suggested that his supporters were the true victims of Jan. 6.

“Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashli Babbitt,” he said, adding that she was “shot for no reason whatsoever.” In fact, three other pro-Trump protesters also died during the riot.

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Ms. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was shot and killed by a police officer while she was part of a group trying to break through a door to the House floor, where lawmakers were seeking shelter from the mob. Her death has become a cause célèbre on the right.

Mr. Trump did not mention the more than 140 police officers who were injured during the attack by people wielding baseball bats, flagpoles, metal batons, broken table legs, crutches and even a hockey stick. He also said nothing about four officers who later died by suicide or another who died shortly after Jan. 6 of a stroke that a medical examiner determined was caused in part by “all that transpired” on that day.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Mr. Trump sought to blame the F.B.I. for the riot, echoing a conspiracy theory that is widespread on the right and that was contradicted by a recent report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog.

Moreover, he seemed to suggest, without evidence, that the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah was somehow involved in the attack — an allegation that has never come up in the multiple criminal and congressional investigations into Jan. 6.

Representatives for Mr. Trump did not respond to questions about these comments.

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Even though he repeatedly promised during his campaign and after the election to issue pardons to potentially hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters, Mr. Trump has never described specific criteria for who will get clemency.

Sometimes, he has said that he will pardon rioters charged only with nonviolent crimes — of which there are about 1,000. At other times, including during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Trump left open the possibility that he would pardon people who attacked the police.

When Mr. Trump won the election, there was jubilation among the Jan. 6 defendants and their families who have been urging him to issue a blanket amnesty to all of the nearly 1,600 who have been charged over the past four years in connection with the Capitol attack.

But if Mr. Trump decides to do that, it will mean granting some form of clemency to people, say, who hit officers with two-by-fours or members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys who were convicted and imprisoned on charges of seditious conspiracy.

After initially condemning the riot as “a heinous attack” and vowing that those who broke the law that day “will pay,” Mr. Trump and his allies quickly pivoted into a campaign to rebrand and launder Jan. 6 as a day of patriotism by Trump supporters. Mr. Trump continued that rewriting of history at Tuesday’s news conference.

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He portrayed the imprisoned supporters as nonviolent victims of unfair prosecutors. He falsely claimed that his supporters brought “not one gun” to the Capitol. And he implied, without evidence, that the riot was instead a plot by either the F.B.I. or shadowy foreign actors.

“They had people in some form related to the F.B.I.,” Mr. Trump said of the riot, referring to the false-flag conspiracy theory prevalent on the right.

The baseless claim that Jan. 6 was instigated by “deep state” actors rather than the hundreds of Trump supporters who were trying to block the peaceful transfer of power in his name has been rejected by defense lawyers working on Capitol riot cases, the Justice Department’s inspector general and even some of the F.B.I.’s own informants who were at the Capitol that day.

“We have to find out about Hezbollah,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to find out about who exactly was in that whole thing, because people that did some bad things were not prosecuted.”

It is unclear why Mr. Trump mentioned Hezbollah in connection with Jan. 6.

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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Smoke rises over Konarak naval base in southern Iran on Sunday. The base was one of hundreds of targets of U.S. and Israeli forces throughout the country.

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Commercial satellite images are providing a unique look at the extent of damage being done to Iran’s military facilities across the country.

The U.S. and Israeli military campaign opened with a daytime attack that struck Iranian leadership in central Tehran. Smoke was still visible rising from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound following the attack that killed the supreme leader.

An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran's Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.

An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.

Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

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Israel and the U.S. have gone on to strike targets across the country. Reports on social media indicate that there have been numerous military bases and compounds attacked all over Iran, and Iran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East.

U.S. forces have also been striking at Iran’s navy. In a post on his social media platform, President Trump said that he had been briefed that U.S. forces had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels. U.S. Central Command did not immediately confirm that number but it did say it had struck an Iranian warship in port.

An image captured on February 28 shows a ship burning at Iran's naval base at Konarak.

An image captured on Saturday shows a ship burning at Iran’s naval base at Konarak.

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor


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Numerous satellite images show burning vessels at Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Images also show damage to a nearby airbase where hardened hangers were struck by precision munitions.

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Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak Airbase were struck with precision munitions.

Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak airbase were struck with precision munitions.

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor


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And there was extensive damage at a drone base in the same area. Iran has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Many drones have been intercepted but videos on social media show that some have evaded air defenses and caused damage in nearby Gulf countries. In Dubai, debris from an Iranian drone damaged the iconic Burj Al Arab, according to a statement from Dubai’s government.

Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.

Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor


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Iran’s most powerful weapons are its long-range missiles. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have hidden the missiles deep inside mountain tunnels. Images taken Sunday in the mountains of northern Iran indicate that some of those tunnels were hit in a wave of strikes.

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Following Khamenei’s death, Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Satellite images showed mourners gathering in Tehran’s Enghelab square on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told NPR on Sunday that Iran will continue to fight “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”

A White House official told NPR that Trump plans to talk to Iran’s interim leadership “eventually,” but that for now, U.S. operations continue in the region “unabated.”

A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor


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Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

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Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

new video loaded: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

The first battle of the midterm elections will be the U.S. Senate primary in Texas. Our Texas bureau chief, David Goodman, explains why Democrats and Republicans across the U.S. are watching closely to see what happens in the state.

By J. David Goodman, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski

March 1, 2026

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Mass shooting at Austin, Texas bar leaves at least 3 dead, 14 wounded, authorities say

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Mass shooting at Austin, Texas bar leaves at least 3 dead, 14 wounded, authorities say

Gunfire rang out at a bar in Austin, Texas, early Sunday and at least three people were killed, the city’s police chief said.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis told reporters the shooter was killed by officers at the scene. 

Fourteen others were hospitalized and three were in critical condition, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said.

“We received a call at 1:39 a.m. and within 57 seconds, the first paramedics and officers were on scene actively treating the patients,” Luckritz said.

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There was no initial word on the shooter’s identity or motive.

An Austin police officer guards the scene on West 6th Street at West Avenue after a shooting on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP


Davis noted how fortunate it was that there was a heavy police presence in Austin’s entertainment district at the time, enabling officers to respond quickly as bars were closing.

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“Officers immediately transitioned … and were faced with the individual with a gun,” Davis said. “Three of our officers returned fire, killing the suspect.”

She called the shooting a “tragic, tragic” incident.

Texas Bar Shooting

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis provides a briefing after a shooting on Sunday, March 1, 2026, near West Sixth Street and Nueces in downtown Austin, Texas.

Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP


Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said his heart goes out to the victims, and he praised the swift response of first responders.

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“They definitely saved lives,” he said.

Davis said federal law enforcement is aiding the investigation.

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