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A massive police response rallied outside a fenced-in U.S. Capitol on Saturday morning to welcome a group of right-wing protesters who insist their midday protest will not turn into violence.
Defenders of the “Justice for J6” rally in Washington, DC, plan to speak out against what they call the “inhumane treatment” of dozens of January 6 rioters who remain in jail pending trials that are still months away.
Two hours before the rally, a fleet of District of Columbia-owned dump trucks lined up to block city streets for stray protesters, and an olive green Humvee from neighboring Prince George County, Md., Was parked outside the Capitoline Botanical Garden. Conservatory.
Counter-protesters arrived early, carrying giant flags in support of Black Lives Matter and trans rights and a banner mimicking Trump’s signature campaign brand that read “Loser.” A handwritten sign identified the bearer as a “proud Antifa scum.”
U.S. Capitol Police, nervous about renewed chaos that has left five dead, called on the Pentagon for reinforcements this week to repel any attack by rally fans. A company of 100 National Guard soldiers was to patrol the event.
Federal workers on Wednesday reinstalled the tall black security fence that was removed in July.
“We have cooperated with the Capitol Police, the Park Police and the Metropolitan Police,” Matt Braynard of Look Ahead America, the rally’s main sponsor, told Fox5 this week. “We have… a diplomatic security team to help keep the event going smoothly.”
The group issued a statement Friday to “condemn political violence in all its forms, in particular the violence perpetrated on January 6”.
“This is a rally in support of those who have been charged with non-violent offenses to protest their disparate treatment at the hands of the Department of Justice and Justice,” the statement said.
Braynard’s group says 67 of the 595 people who have been charged with assault, obstruction, trespassing and other crimes in connection with the Capitol raid remain behind bars – many in solitary confinement – because their trial dates are repeatedly postponed.
Two GOP congressional candidates – Joe Kent from Washington State and Mike Collins from Georgia – were to address the crowd.
Braynard, a former Trump campaign strategist who bolstered his public profile with allegations of voting anomalies in the 2020 presidential election, asked fans of the rally not to bring political equipment – either in favor of former President Trump or in opposition to President Biden – at one event.
“Anyone who does not honor this request will be considered an infiltrator,” he said. tweeted this week.
Trump called the protest a “setup” on Thursday.
“If people don’t show up, they’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s a lack of wit,'” he told The Federalist. “And if people show up, they will be harassed. “
But he also expressed his support for “people so unjustly persecuted as a result of the January 6 protest” in a statement released by his Save America PAC this week.
“On top of everything else, it has conclusively proven that we are a two tier justice system,” Trump wrote. “In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!”
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