Donald Trump issued pardons for participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of his first acts after being sworn in as the country’s 47th president on Monday. The pardons fulfill Trump’s promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his election defeat four years ago. “These are the hostages,” he said while signing the paperwork in the Oval Office — which appeared to be Trump’s first executive actions taken in the presidential office inside the White House after his inauguration. Trump Administration 6 hours ago Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving Trump the first member of his Cabinet Trump Administration 8 hours ago Trump executive actions: What he's signed so far and other expected orders Inauguration Day 8 hours ago Inaugural balls 2025: Timing, schedules, who's performing Trump said about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants would be pardoned. Names of those pardoned have not yet been released. Trump had promised to issue pardons for “a lot of people” who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when he was trying to overturn Biden’s election victory. Despite widespread outrage over the riot, Trump has tried to recast the participants as patriots and “hostages” being held by an unfair justice system. Among those sentenced in connection to the Capitol riots who was set to be released was former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, according to his lawyer Nayib Hassan, who told NBC News his client was being processed for release from federal prison Monday because of an expected grant of clemency from President Trump. Tarrio is serving a 22-year sentence at FCI Pollock, a medium security prison in Louisiana. He was sentenced in Sept. 2023 after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the highest profile Jn. 6 prosecutions. “He is being processed out,” Hassan said.  “We do not know what type of clemency he is receiving.” Tarrio’s mother also has posted on X that he is being freed. Tarrio was not convicted of any violent acts – he wasn’t at the Capitol. But prosecutors said he was a key organizer of the attack. Trump, emboldened by his unprecedented political comeback, set to work unraveling Joe Biden ’s legacy Monday as soon as he was sworn in as the 47th president, claiming a mandate to reshape American institutions. He began signing executive orders onstage at a downtown arena as thousands of supporters cheered, melding the theatrics of his campaign rallies with the formal powers of the presidency. He froze the issuing of new regulations, asserted his control over the federal workforce and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Trump also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, global warming and sanctioning Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. When finished, he tossed the pens into the crowd. “We won, we won, but now the work begins,” Trump said before a crowd of people in “Make America Great Again” hats. The Republican president abandoned the more solemn tone of his inaugural address from earlier in the day and taunted his Democratic predecessor while scrawling his name in thick black ink on his executive orders. “Could you imagine Biden doing this?” he said. “I don’t think so!” Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian and Michelle L. Price of The Associated Press contributed to this report.