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Police brace for Capitol rally defending Jan. 6 mob
The Hill ^ | 09/07/21 06:50 PM EDT | BY CRISTINA MARCOS AND REBECCA BEITSCH

Posted on 09/07/2021 4:03:43 PM PDT by RandFan

Members of Congress and law enforcement are bracing for potential security threats on Sept. 18 when a “Justice for J6” rally is planned to support the more than 570 people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The Capitol Police are expected to present their security plan to the Capitol Police Board this week, according to a congressional source, while the Metropolitan Police Department is also expected to ramp up its presence for the planned rally near the Capitol’s west front.

The group organizing the rally, Look Ahead America, is led by Matt Braynard, who served as a campaign staffer for former President Trump. About 300 to 500 attendees are expected at the event, including members of far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, according to multiple reports.

Several members of those two groups have been charged with criminal offenses related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, when hundreds of people invaded the Capitol, forced the evacuation of Congress and delayed the counting of the Electoral College vote. More than 140 police officers were injured in the riot, which led to five deaths.

It's not yet clear if any members of Congress will be in attendance, but some prominent far-right House Republicans have offered support and sympathy to people facing charges for their actions on Jan. 6. Some have also cast Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she came close to breaching the House chamber, as a martyr.

GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) held a July 27 news conference outside the Justice Department to protest the treatment of people arrested in connection to Jan. 6. The event, which was interrupted by counterprotestors, took place the same day a House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack heard testimony from officers on the physical and mental abuse they took that day.

Greene, Gaetz and Gohmert also tried to visit the D.C. Department of Corrections to personally view the Jan. 6 defendants’ conditions but were barred from entry.

Late last month, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) described the defendants currently in law enforcement custody as “political hostages” and “political prisoners” who are being detained to deter future protests.

“The big problem is we don't actually know where all the political prisoners are,” Cawthorn said. “And so, if we were to actually be able to go and try and bust them out — and let me tell you, the reason why they're taking these political prisoners is because they're trying to make an example, because they don't want to see the mass protests going on in Washington.”

A spokesman for Cawthorn later sought to clarify that he only “wants due process for the prisoners” and “was not advocating for any form of illegal action, only that they receive full due process.”

Some of this rhetoric, and the promotion of the conspiracy that President Biden wasn’t legitimately elected, has infuriated other lawmakers — including some Republicans — still shaken by the events of Jan. 6.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), one of the most outspoken critics of Republicans who have backed Trump’s false claims about the election, harshly criticized plans for the Sept. 18 event.

“Let's talk about what this rally celebrates. It celebrates cop killers,” he said in an interview with CNN. “And you know what, this is America. They can peacefully assemble. They can celebrate whatever they want.”

Swalwell also said Capitol Police, who have come under intense criticism for their preparations for Jan. 6, must be ready for Sept. 18.

“We just have to make sure that if they are ready to get violent, that we're ready again in a better way than on Jan. 6 to defend the Capitol,” Swalwell said.

While the Sept. 18 rally is expected to be smaller than what occurred on Jan. 6, experts are encouraging security planners to take it seriously.

“This is coming eight months after” Jan. 6, said Brian Levin, a criminal justice professor and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

“It’s a different scenario, but we’re getting a much more isolated and also angry and conspiratorial sliver that is not only labeling an election as stolen but is also labeling violent criminal defendants as political prisoners, and that's another marker of extremism.”

Congress is not scheduled to be in session on Sept. 18, which falls on a Saturday, but the Capitol Hill community has been on edge since Jan. 6.

In April, a man rammed his car into a security barricade, killing one Capitol Police officer and injuring another, although the suspect died before a clear motive was established.

And last month, a man drove his truck onto the sidewalk in front of the Library of Congress across the street from the Capitol and claimed he had a bomb. During the tense five-hour standoff, the suspect posted a video to Facebook where he railed against Biden and claimed that “the revolution is on.”

The Capitol Police declined to comment Tuesday on any specific security plans for Sept. 18. But Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the department is “closely monitoring” the event and expressed confidence that “the work we are doing now will make sure our officers have what they need to keep everyone safe.”

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is also planning an “increased presence around the city” where demonstrations will take place on Sept. 18 and may close off some streets, a spokesperson said.

Levin said the Capitol Police should be focused on developing a plan that includes securing the perimeter around the Capitol, ideally maintaining some distance between protesters and the building, and avoiding missteps on Jan. 6 by ensuring communication between commanders and officers as well as between the outside entities brought in to help.

“I think here the risk is not doing anything. You need responsive backup from across agencies — you can't just have MPD. You have to have multiple mutual aid going on, planning across multiple agencies, and I think you’re going to have that now,” he said.

Braynard has urged attendees to “be respectful and kind to all law enforcement officers,” and he discouraged anyone from bringing signs or clothing related to a specific political candidate or the election’s legitimacy

“I invite you to make your own homemade signs demanding justice for these political prisoners, demanding justice for Ashli Babbitt. But we are focused like a laser on this and only this cause on this date at that rally,” Braynard said in a video posted to the event’s website.

Messages on the Proud Boys' Telegram account have discouraged members from going to the rally, with one stating that “we will not be attending this guaranteed disaster.”


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 20210106; 202104; 20210918; ashli; barnyard; biden; capitol; capitolriot; cawthorn; communistcoup; dissent; fakepresident; j6; jan6th; justiceforj6; lookaheadamerica; pelosisstalag; politicalprisoners; proudboys; swalwell
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1 posted on 09/07/2021 4:03:43 PM PDT by RandFan
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To: RandFan

“Late last month, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) described the defendants currently in law enforcement custody as “political hostages” and “political prisoners” who are being detained to deter future protests.”

This guy is two faced.

He endorsed Biden as president.


2 posted on 09/07/2021 4:05:14 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: RandFan

Garbage article, garbage publication. I hope to god you didn’t bother reading it.


3 posted on 09/07/2021 4:05:44 PM PDT by JonPreston (Q: Never have so many, been so wrong, so often)
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To: RandFan

“Matt Braynard” will disappear into oblivion, in a Federal cell..


4 posted on 09/07/2021 4:06:19 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit..)
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To: RandFan

“Violent criminal defendants” who somehow were unarmed and didn’t manage to cause many/any serious casualties among the CP et al?


5 posted on 09/07/2021 4:06:20 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: RandFan

Note how they call a demonstration, a rally a “mob”.

Ministry of Truth.


6 posted on 09/07/2021 4:06:23 PM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: RandFan

Remember when the Black Panthers carried rifles into the US Capitol when they invaded it? Here is the story: https://capitolweekly.net/black-panthers-armed-capitol/

Or how about when the Democrat Weather Underground bombed the US Capitol. They knew who did it and yet NO ONE was arrested or charged. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bomb-explodes-in-capitol-building

Now they are worried when conservatives want to peacefully protest people being held in jail for months without being able to see a judge (what happened to “speedy trial”). And charged with stupid, inane charges like “trespass” or “parading” and Pelosi wants to make those things felonies?

Our Reps have done nothing to help and THE PEOPLE are fed up. They want to protest and the authorities are “worried”? While BLM and ANTIFA riot, loot and kill and not a person sits in jail who committed those atrocities.

Corruption abounds in our capitol. They should all be embarrassed.


7 posted on 09/07/2021 4:07:44 PM PDT by Singermom
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To: RandFan

> a “Justice for J6” rally <

I wonder how many in attendance will be provocateurs in the pay of the FBI (it wouldn’t take many to turn the whole thing upside down).


8 posted on 09/07/2021 4:09:10 PM PDT by Leaning Right (I have alrseady previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: ifinnegan

Why lie?

Cawthorn never “endorsed Biden” for President.

He campaigned heavily for Trump and was one of 121 members of the House who voted to sustain the Arizona election challenge.


9 posted on 09/07/2021 4:10:35 PM PDT by TexasGurl24
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To: RandFan

Mixed feelings about this. Could easily turn into more fodder for Pelosi’s Stalinesque show trial.


10 posted on 09/07/2021 4:11:06 PM PDT by LIConFem (Read up on Russia's Oct, 1917 Revolution... And prepare.)
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To: RandFan

It’s a trap.


11 posted on 09/07/2021 4:11:45 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
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To: RandFan

You mean they are braced for the FBI poseurs dressed in MAGA gear?


12 posted on 09/07/2021 4:12:09 PM PDT by ponygirl (An Appeal to Heaven )
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To: Leaning Right

This will be like a noose at NASCAR, Chris Wray Goonerama.


13 posted on 09/07/2021 4:13:25 PM PDT by hardspunned (former GOP globalist stooge)
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To: RandFan

Burn the capital police department to the ground


14 posted on 09/07/2021 4:14:01 PM PDT by NoLibZone (In 2 yrs only living will be conservative Christians Liberal vaxed sheep will be dead.Trust G's plan)
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To: LIConFem

So if they don’t do it we will be embraced and loved by the left?.


15 posted on 09/07/2021 4:14:41 PM PDT by NoLibZone (In 2 yrs only living will be conservative Christians Liberal vaxed sheep will be dead.Trust G's plan)
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To: RandFan

Bookmark


16 posted on 09/07/2021 4:15:27 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: RandFan

Antifa buying Trump gear as we speak.


17 posted on 09/07/2021 4:16:24 PM PDT by bray (Time to resign Joe)
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To: ifinnegan
Note how they call a demonstration, a rally a “mob”.

As opposed to "mostly peaceful".

18 posted on 09/07/2021 4:16:29 PM PDT by ex91B10 (Just because you can doesn't mean you should. )
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To: SauronOfMordor

You’d have to be an idiot to attend. Much more productive ways to battle these demons.


19 posted on 09/07/2021 4:16:50 PM PDT by teevolt
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To: RandFan

Wonder who’s paying salaries at The Hill these days.

Certainly not subscribers or newsstand sales.


20 posted on 09/07/2021 4:17:16 PM PDT by AAABEST (NY/DC/LA media/political/military industrial complex DELENDA EST)
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