Lindsey Graham: Police must ‘take firm line’ with September 18 rally participants

His. Lindsey grahamLindsey Olin GrahamOvernight Defense & National Security – Milley becomes lightning rod Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley becomes right-wing lightning rod GOP senators unveil bill designating Taliban as terrorist organization MORE (R-SC) said he expects law enforcement to take a zero tolerance approach in response to any violent behavior at a planned right-wing rally in Washington, DC this weekend. end.

The rally, in support of rioters arrested in connection with the Jan.6 attack on the United States Capitol, is scheduled for Saturday afternoon and is expected to draw hundreds to the nation’s capital.

“They have to take a tough line, mate,” Graham told the New York Times of the local police presence at the event. “If anyone goes out of line, they have to hit them.”

The Department of Homeland Security is said to expect around 700 people to attend the weekend’s rally, and teams have started building fences and security gates around the Capitol complex in anticipation of the arrival of the large crowd.

Local police departments and federal officials say they remain on high alert ahead of the event, dubbed “Justice for J6,” which some Republican lawmakers have failed to acknowledge or downplay.

“I don’t expect a lot of people out there,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) Told The Times. “I haven’t heard anything about it. I will not be there.”

The rally comes as some Republican leaders work to extricate themselves from the violent events of the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

“Republicans want the midterms to be a referendum on Biden,” GOP strategist Alex Conant told The Hill this week. “Democrats will want it to be Donald trumpDonald Trump Former Senator Heller to run for Nevada governor Overnight Defense & National Security – Milley becomes lightning rod Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley becomes right lightning rod MORE. It’s clear every Democrat is going to do what Newsom did in California and try to make their own re-election over the former president.

Leader of the minority in the Senate Mitch mcconnellAddison CEO (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Urges Congress To Raise Debt Limit Or Risk “Avoidable Crisis” Capito Toasts EPA Candidate On “#ResistCapitalism” Tweet Hassan Launches First Candidature Announcement to re-election focused on veterans issues PLUS (R-Ky.) Said he was confident the police would be “equipped to handle” any scenario that played out on Saturday.

Graham, once a close ally of Trump, voted to certify President BidenJoe BidenOvernight Defense & National Security – Milley Becomes Lightning Rod Democrats Hope Biden Can Overthrow Manchin and Sinema On The Money – Presented by Wells Fargo – Democrats move tax plan forward through obstacles MORETrump’s victory after the attack on Capitol Hill and the day after the insurgency said Trump’s legacy had been “tarnished” by the incident.

“The president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said at the time. “Yesterday’s rally was inappropriate, it got out of hand.”