Trump refuses to rule out using ‘anti-weaponization’ fund for Capitol rioters who attacked police

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they push barricades to storm the US Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January 2021. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images View image in fullscreen Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they push barricades to storm the US Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January 2021. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images Trump refuses to rule out using ‘anti-weaponization’ fund for Capitol rioters who attacked police US president says ‘I’d pay the kind of money they deserve’ amid questions over his administration establishing fund Donald Trump declined on Sunday to definitively rule out compensating individuals who were charged with assaulting police officers when his supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 toward the end of his first presidency. Trump did that in an interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press, where he spoke in support of what his administration calls an “anti-weaponization” fund , arguing that people who entered the Capitol while Congress was preparing to certify Joe Biden’s victory over him in the 2020 presidential election had been treated unfairly by prosecutors and should receive compensation. When host Kristen Welker asked whether people who assaulted police officers during the attack should receive taxpayer-funded compensation, Trump responded: “I wouldn’t be inclined to say so, but I have to see it. Senate approves $70bn for immigration crackdown amid splits over Trump fund Read more “Well, look – if it was up to me, I’d pay them the kind of money that they deserve. People have been destroyed. Lives have been destroyed.” Trump’s comments on the nearly $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund come as questions remain about whether it will move forward. On 29 May, a federal judge issued a temporary order preventing the administration from establishing the fund while a lawsuit seeking to stop it is considered. On 2 June, acting attorney general Todd Blanche told lawmakers that the administration was “not moving forward with the fund, period”. Despite that, during Sunday’s interview, Trump continued advocating for the fund and defending those involved in the Capitol attack. He argued that individuals who pleaded guilty had done so because they feared receiving lengthy prison sentences. “They pled guilty because they were frightened,” he said, before making a number of unsupported allegations about the Capitol attack. In total, nearly 1,600 people faced charges related to the Capitol attack, and 1,100 had received sentences by the time the Biden administration was nearing its end. During the events of January 6, as the transfer of presidential power was taking place inside the Capitol, some protesters entered the building carrying various objects capable of causing injury. More than 140 law enforcement officers suffered injuries during the Capitol attack. During his campaign, Trump pledged clemency for many of the protesters. After returning to offi