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.”
It's remarkable how much misinformation they can cram
into one simple paragraph.
Several members > translation (almost no one)
When hundreds of people invaded > a significant number of
which were invited in by the Capital Building security
staff
...which led to five deaths > and not a single one at the direct
hands of protesters
And missing any mention of ANTIFA, which had a significant
presence and early on were the instigators who forced
entry into the Capital Building.
Even some of the additional comments were misleading.
They’re worried because they know they should all be hanged for treason.
Defcon 8!!! /s
What's your game plan?
Do you not undetstand what the words “mixed feelings” mean, or were you just itchin’ for an argument?
Are you maybe confusing him with someone else?
This is the 25 y/o in the wheelchair.
Riot loot, rape, burn and murder-according to US Fake News “Most Peaceful Protest”
Peaceful protest Jan 6th “Mob” “Insurrection” according to US Fake News
Not to mention that the only person shot dead that day was
an unarmed woman who posed no real threat, was not warned,
and was executed in cold blood even though she was in a
hallway, and not a room occupied by elected officials.
I learned there’s a rally on September 18th for the 1/6 political prisoners That’s helpful
To our Neville Chamberlain Freepers:
name a single instance in human history in which voting Was fraud, the press was run by a single party and the right to assemble was removed that did not intern result in decades of extreme violence.
Anyone. Anyone at all
Are you talking about Madison Cawthorn? Madison Cawthorn was to the right of the Trump-endorsed candidate and beat him outright. He then remained loyal to Trump and spoke at the Republican convention. He never endorsed Biden. Cawthorn is a reliable conservative.
It’s being billed as Insurrection Part 2, but if that helps you find the way there, don’t forget bail money.
It seems pretty stupid to have another rally in the capitol, the way the MSM, congress, local police, and Democraps are so ready to call it insurrection while salting the crowd with fake Trumpsters & Trolls. Chances are this won’t end up well for our side.
Why, is all this fake news regarding this upcoming rally?
How many will they kill this time.
“Brace” as in when BLACK Capitol Police-Murderers
get a chance to prepare to wait and
murder white women vets?
yes, that is what they do, without accountability.
Guillotines for conservatives for FEMA and FIB.
Bullets to the neck and head for conservatives
by BLACK OBAMA-controlled CAPITOL POLICE-MURDERERS.
Graphene poisons MANDATED into children and pregnant
women.
HOW IS THIS NOT A BIOCIVIL WAR 2 STARTED BY THE GOV’T???
It’s an undercover FBI rally.
It’s interesting that the article fails to even address the concerns that have been raised about the treatment of the January 6th protestors, and how that treatment drastically differs from that accorded to BLM rioters.
There is something that those on the Right need to learn.
A “protest” means nothing if no one hears about it, and less than nothing if all that is heard is the opposite view.
Conservatives can do a lot of things, but one thing that they cannot do is “protest”. The media is, rather obviously, the Left’s butt-boy. So called “social media” is theirs, too. So, you can forget about your “protest” accomplishing that purpose.
We can have rallies to energize and organize, but must do so for ourselves, knowing that the media will not cover it truthfully. The only thing we are going to get out of it is what we put into it. We need to understand this.
I have never liked the Left’s protests, anyway. I don’t want to emulate them in this fashion. The Jan 6 political prisoners need to be freed. That racist needs to fry for murdering Ashli Babbit. We, frankly, should have found a way by now, and that we haven’t, indicates how bad things really are.
This event has all of the hallmarks of trying the same thing again and hoping for a different result.
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