Washington DC police preparing for rally in
support of 6 January rioters
Some leading Republicans in Congress are distancing
themselves from the event and Proud Boys are avoiding it as well
Chris
McGreal in Washington
Sat 18 Sep
2021 07.00 BST
Washington
DC has prepared for Saturday’s rally in support of those arrested for storming
the Capitol on 6 January by mounting the kind of security operation it failed
to put in place before the attempted coup.
The city
has surrounded congressional buildings with reinforced fencing, called up large
numbers of police officers and put the national guard on standby to prepare for
the “Justice for J6” protest near the Capitol building.
But even
amid warnings from the Department of Homeland Security about threats of
violence, there were signs the demonstration may fall short of the impact its
organisers hope for, as mainstream Republican politicians and some ardent
pro-Trump groups distanced themselves from the rally.
The protest
was called to demand the release of about 650 people charged with offences
after thousands of Trump supporters smashed their way into the Capitol in an
attempt to prevent members of Congress certifying the 2021 presidential
election.
Four people
died during the riot, including a woman shot by a police officer as she tried
to get on to the floor of the House of Representatives. Brian Sicknick, a
Capitol police officer attacked by the protesters, died the next day.
Nearly 60
people have pleaded guilty, mostly to relatively minor crimes including obstruction
of official proceedings and illegally demonstrating in the Capitol.
Supporters
have characterised them as “political prisoners” who were lawfully protesting
at the urging of Donald Trump, who held a rally nearby at which he urged
supporters to “fight like hell” to defend his claim to have won the 2020
election.
The
organisers, Look Ahead America, said Saturday’s rally was not intended to
demonstrate support for Trump and appealed for those attending not to wear
political paraphernalia.
The group’s
director, Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign operative, told CNN it would
be “a completely peaceful protest”.
Look Ahead
America applied for a permit for 700 people to attend the protest. It remains
to be seen if it will attract even that number after the demonstration was
disparaged by some pro-Trump groups and mainstream Republicans who have spent
the past few days distancing themselves from the protest.
Senator
Lindsey Graham called on police to take a “firm line” with demonstrators.
“If anybody
gets out of line, they need to whack ‘em,” he told the New York Times.
The Proud
Boys and the Oath Keepers militia, whose members are among those facing some of
the most serious charges over the 6 January attack, appear to be avoiding the
event. A Proud Boys social media channel said the protest “sounds like bait”
subject to government surveillance and warned members not to go.
Trump, who
was impeached for inciting the riot but acquitted at trial in the Senate, has
condemned prosecutions over 6 January.
“Our hearts
and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the 6
January protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election,” he said in a
written statement.
Trump then
declared: “In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!”
The former
president will not be attending the rally. He is scheduled to spend the day at
a golf tournament in New Jersey.
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