INSURRECTION
FALLOUT
D.C. rally backing Jan. 6 riot defendants draws
meager turnout
About 200 people gathered peacefully near the Capitol
under the watchful eye of a massive security presence.
By NICHOLAS
WU, KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEIN
09/18/2021
07:00 AM EDT
Updated:
09/18/2021 03:55 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/18/dc-braces-rally-jan-6-512659
A highly
anticipated rally on behalf of the more than 600 people charged in the Jan. 6
Capitol Hill riot drew a modest crowd of a couple hundred demonstrators
Saturday, with media and security personnel far outnumbering those seeking to
air grievances on behalf of defendants they call “political prisoners.”
The small
crowd that gathered just steps from where the worst violence unfolded earlier
this year was met by a massive law enforcement presence clad in riot gear.
Horse and bicycle-mounted police officers circled the gathering, and a
Metropolitan Police Department helicopter flew overhead. Both Capitol Police
Chief Thomas Manger and MPD Chief Robert Contee III attended the event,
standing alongside their officers.
The rally,
organized by a former campaign aide to former President Donald Trump, began
just after noon and lasted only about an hour. It featured a handful of
speakers who addressed the group from a small stage.
Capitol
Police reported a total of four arrests, including a man in the crowd with a
knife and another who was carrying a gun. Two other people were arrested
following a traffic stop near the Capitol. Police said they had pending arrest
warrants from Texas, one for firearm possession and another for a probation
violations.
But the
event was relatively subdued, with minimal presence from counter-protesters.
The clashes feared by law enforcement never materialized despite scattered
shouting matches that immediately drew swarms of cameras. A few of the rally
attendees donned the insignia of Three Percenters, a loosely affiliated militia
group, several of whom were arrested for actions on Jan. 6.
While the
Capitol riot defendants have garnered some sympathy on the right, most
Republicans shied away from the rally and its rhetoric. Trump expressed support
for the defendants but called the rally a “setup” Thursday. No sitting members
of Congress attended, as the rally provoked a now-familiar sense of anxiety on
the Hill.
Law
enforcement dramatically escalated security at the Capitol in the days before
the rally, erecting fencing and surveillance around the Capitol, increasing
numbers of officers patrolling its grounds and calling in the National Guard to
stand by. Mobile surveillance equipment dotted Capitol grounds, and Manger
urged the public to prepare for road closures in the area.
Some
organizers acknowledged the turnout was disappointing, attributing the small
showing to intense advance warnings from officials and the media.
“Take a
look around. Do you see an insurrection?” said Cara Castronuova, a professional
boxer and trainer who leads a group defending Jan. 6 arrestees. “Shame on the people
the system that put fear in the hearts of American citizens to stay home, and
to not come out. ... What kind of America has this become where people are
afraid to come out and protest?”
Matt
Braynard speaks to the media near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday,
Sept. 18, 2021.
Matt
Braynard, the organizer behind the rally and a former Trump campaign staffer,
speaks to the media near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 18,
2021. | Nathan Howard/AP Photo
At the
outset of the rally, Look Ahead America founder Matt Braynard insisted the
event was not aimed at supporting those who were violent or damaged property at
the Capitol on Jan. 6, but the messages delivered by others clearly embraced
people who are accused of attacking police.
“Anybody
who engaged in that kind of violence or property destruction that day deserves
to be tried with a speedy trial and locked up for a long time,” Braynard said.
However,
some given platforms at the event did advocate for Jan. 6 participants accused
of violence. One speaker at the rally — who identified herself as the
girlfriend of Capitol riot defendant Jonathan Mellis — railed against the
conditions in the D.C. Jail where a small fraction of the Jan. 6 detainees are
being held.
Mellis, of
Williamsburg, Va., is accused of using a stick to beat police during the riot.
The FBI says he made stabbing movements with it and seemed to be trying to
spear officers between their helmets and their body armor.
“Jon’s in
solitary confinement,” said the woman, who declared that he and others had been
subject to “torture.”
The woman,
who was identified only as Kelly, went on to complain that for dinner last
night Mellis was served only white bread, a cookie and a packet of tartar
sauce.
“I think
America needs to become very well-versed in the treatment of these men. It’s
human rights that we’re talking about and it is completely non-partisan,” she
said.
Some
opponents of solitary confinement, including some Democratic lawmakers, have
criticized the conditions for Jan. 6 defendants at the D.C. jail. Officials
there say the restrictions are aimed at preventing the spread of the
coronavirus among inmates and the conditions have been relaxed in recent months
to give prisoners a couple of hours a day outside their cells.
Capitol
police relive horror at first Jan. 6 hearing, in 180 seconds
Nearly all
of the several dozen people in pretrial custody stemming from the Jan. 6 riot
are charged either with assaulting police or with being parts of conspiracies
aimed at blocking the certification of electoral votes. Pretrial detention for
alleged rioters charged only with misdemeanors has been extraordinarily rare.
One man was held for about six months on such charges, but he had previously
served time in prison for attempted murder.
At the
rally, Braynard highlighted the case of one man not accused of violence who has
been held since soon after the riot, Jacob Chansley. The self-described QAnon
"shaman" pleaded guilty to an obstruction charge last month and
remains jailed pending sentencing.
“This man
has not been accused of violence. He has not been accused of destruction of
property. He has been accused of dressing horribly, I think,” Braynard joked.
“What he did that day, and if anybody did anything similar, does not deserve
nine months in solitary confinement without conviction.”
"If
you want a name, Political prisoner #1 is Jake Angeli," Braynard said in
an email to POLITICO before the rally, referring to another name used by
Chansley.
In addition
to charging more than 600 people in connection with the attack, prosecutors are
quickly resolving dozens of the simplest cases — more than 80 alleged rioters
have already pleaded guilty or are preparing to for partaking in the mob scene,
a number that has steadily risen in recent days. Still, the Justice Department
is grappling with how to bring many of the most complex cases to trial —
particularly those involving militias such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys,
several of whose leaders are in D.C. jail while their charges are pending.
About 60 to
70 other Jan. 6 defendants are detained while awaiting trial. They include
Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs, Oath Keepers Jessica Watkins
and Kelly Meggs, and Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who expressed overt antisemitism
to colleagues at the naval weapons base where he worked prior to his arrest.
Although
some judges are expressing concern at the length of pretrial incarceration for
some of these defendants, they’ve largely deferred to the Justice Department,
which has described the investigation as the largest and most complex in
history.
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