Determined to avoid a repeat of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, law enforcement officers will be on high alert Saturday when protesters gather near the building to voice support for the hundreds of Jan. 6 riot suspects.


What You Need To Know

  • Determined to avoid a repeat of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, law enforcement officers will be on high alert Saturday when protesters gather near the building to voice support for the hundreds of Jan. 6 riot suspects

  • Organizer Matt Braynard, a former Donald Trump campaign staffer, says the goal of the demonstration is to get charges dropped against the many protesters he says are being treated unfairly harsh because of their political views

  • U.S. Capitol Police and the Department of Homeland Security issued warnings this week about recent online threats of violence related to the rally

  • On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from Capitol Police for about 100 members of the D.C. National Guard to be stationed at a city armory near the Capitol and ready to respond if called upon

The event, called “Justice for J6,” will begin at noon Eastern in Union Square, at the foot of Capitol Hill. Organizer Matt Braynard, a former Donald Trump campaign staffer, says the goal of the demonstration is to get charges dropped against the many protesters he says are being treated unfairly harsh because of their political views.

“What we really want to do is put a spotlight on the mistreatment of these individuals and encourage federal legislators to demand the Department of Justice deliver real justice to these people,” Braynard told C-SPAN on Friday.

U.S. Capitol Police issued a warning earlier this week saying it was aware of “concerning online chatter” about Saturday’s demonstration. And the Department of Homeland Security reportedly issued a bulletin to law enforcement partners Thursday saying it is aware of a "small number of recent online threats of violence,” including the possibilities of people storming the Capitol on Friday night or kidnapping a member of Congress. 

On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from Capitol Police for about 100 members of the D.C. National Guard to be stationed at a city armory near the Capitol and ready to respond if called upon.

Late Wednesday, the same security fencing and barriers that protected the Capitol in the weeks after the riot were reinstalled. Members of Congress are being urged to stay away from the Capitol on Saturday, and multiple congressional offices have closed.

“The U.S. Capitol Police Department has been working around the clock for the last several weeks to ensure that we have a safe event tomorrow,” Chief Tom Manger said during a news conference Friday. “But perhaps more importantly, over the last eight months, the leadership of the U.S. Capitol Police Department has been preparing working to ensure that we don't have a repeat of Jan. 6.”

Manger said police will seek to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights while keeping the peace.

On Jan. 6, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol as Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Trump had made — and continues to espouse — false claims that widespread election fraud cost him re-election.

The then-president addressed a crowd near the White House on Jan. 6 and directed them to march to the Capitol, where protesters clashed with police and forced their way inside the building as lawmakers were hurried to secure locations. Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection, but the Senate fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to convict him.

More than 140 police officers were injured Jan. 6, and four people who were at the riot died, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a police officer as she tried to climb through a window into the Capitol. A fifth person, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died the following day after suffering two strokes.

Law enforcement officials have come under fire since Jan. 6 for ignoring threat warnings and not being adequately prepared for the attack. While one DHS official said around 700 people are expected at Saturday’s demonstration — a far cry from the thousands who attended the Jan. 6 rally — police and federal officials are taking no chances. 

Capitol Police Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman said Friday that the department has made several “challenging yet critical changes” since Jan. 6, in particular expanding its intelligence operations.

The Capitol Police Board issued an emergency declaration order that allows the department to deputize outside law enforcement officers. If police still need help after utilizing local, state and federal law enforcement, they would call in the National Guard, who will be without firearms but will be equipped with batons and protective vests for self-defense.

Capitol Police did not request backup from the National Guard on Jan. 6 until after the building had already been breached.

Braynard says the rally is only in support of the non-violent suspects and that violent extremists are not welcome Saturday. He also says the protest is not about any election or candidate and has requested that no one wear clothing or carry signs supporting either Trump or Biden. 

“Anyone not honoring this request will be assumed to be an infiltrator and we will take your picture, find out who you are, and make you famous,” he tweeted Tuesday.

Intelligence suggested that extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers would turn up, but some prominent members of the groups have sworn they aren’t going and have told others not to attend. 

No Republican members of Congress have said they plan to attend the rally, but two Republican House candidates — Joe Kent of Washington state and Mike Collins of Georgia — are scheduled to speak. 

Trump released a statement Thursday that did not mention the rally specifically but voiced his support for “the people being persecuted so unfairly” following the Capitol riot. 

“In addition to everything else, it has proven conclusively that we are a two-tiered system of justice,” the former president said. “In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!”

“Justice for J6” rallies are also scheduled in 17 states over the next three weekends, including California, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Texas.

Nearly 580 people have been charged for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the FBI is searching for others.  

The Associated Press reviewed hundreds of court and jail records for the Capitol riot defendants to uncover how many were being detained and found about 60 held in federal custody awaiting trial or sentencing hearings. 

Just Friday, a judge ordered the pretrial detention of a Pennsylvania woman who contends the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over her.

At least 30 are jailed in Washington. The rest are locked up in facilities across the country. They have said they are being treated unfairly, and one defendant said he was beaten.

Federal authorities have identified several of those detained as extremist group leaders, members or associates, including nine defendants linked to the Proud Boys and three connected to the antigovernment Oath Keepers. Dozens are charged with conspiring to mount coordinated attacks on the Capitol to block Congress from certifying the 2020 Electoral College vote, among the most serious of the charges.

Some jailed defendants are charged with assaulting police officers, others will making violent threats. A few were freed after their arrests but subsequently detained again, accused of violating release conditions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has set standards for judges to apply in deciding whether to jail a Capitol riot defendant. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled in March that rioters accused of assaulting officers, breaking through windows, doors and barricades, or playing leadership roles in the attack were in “a different category of dangerousness” than those who merely cheered on the violence or entered the building after it was breached.

Despite that, Trump and his allies have tried to shift the narrative on the violence of the day. First, some blamed attack on left-wing antifa antagonists, a theory quickly debunked. Then came comparisons of the rioters to peaceful protesters or even tourists. They're now saying the protesters are being treated unfairly by the criminal justice system.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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