Several hundred pro-Trump demonstrators gathered outside the Capitol on Saturday to protest the treatment of those charged in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection — a crowd that seemed to be dwarfed by the outsize presence of the news media and police forces on hand to monitor the event.
Fearing another violent riot like that of Jan. 6, U.S. Capitol Police had joined forces with other local and federal law enforcement agencies, creating a massive security apparatus that featured road closures, layers of fencing, hundreds of officers, a National Guard corps on standby, a cavalry lying in wait and helicopters buzzing overhead.
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[T]hose arrested for non-violent offenses surrounding Jan. 6, they argued, have been jailed too long or have suffered other mistreatments that defy their constitutional rights. They repeatedly characterized those facing charges as "political prisoners" — with one speaker claiming they're being "tortured" — and accused authorities of punishing them more harshly than the Black Lives Matter protesters of last summer, though they were charged in some cases with similar crimes.
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Although a number of congressional Republicans have raised the same concerns about the treatment of those arrested in connection to Jan. 6, no lawmakers participated in Saturday's event — a dynamic that irked the organizers, the speakers and some of those in the crowd.
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Some conservative groups had also warned, without evidence, that the event was actually an FBI sting operation designed to entrap Trump's staunchest allies.
The Hill
I wonder who started that rumor.
The protesters came to support the roughly 600 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
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It's unclear how many protesters attended Saturday's rally, and several members of the organizing group, Look Ahead America, declined to offer a guess when asked by a reporter. Yet the protesters seemed to be outnumbered by the hundreds of members of the media, the police and the counter-protesters who had gathered to heckle the pro-Trump demonstrators from the sidelines. Kent guessed the number of demonstrators to be about 300 while Capitol Police estimated the crowd to be between 400 and 450.
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The music blaring in the background just before the event began also seemed to carry a political message: Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire."
Tensions flared on several occasions between protesters and counter-protesters, who marched around the grounds carrying signs of their own. One read "Loser." Another was more blunt: "F--k Proud Boys."
The quarrels prompted the police to intervene on at least one occasion, when a protester was whisked away. It was unclear if he was arrested.
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Capitol Police also arrested four people, according to The Associated Press: one person had been carrying a knife; another was reported to be in possession of a handgun; and two from Texas had outstanding warrants for a firearms charge and probation violation.
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The protesters came dressed in American flag symbols, constitutional slogans and anti-BLM messages. One wore a coon-skin cap and a Daniel Boone flask. Another boasted a hat that said: "We the People Are Pissed Off." They waved flags — some traditional, some hand-made with messages like "Guilty of Loving America" — and carried signs that warned against the rise of a totalitarian state.
Rather ironic since it's their guy who threatens that.
Matt Braynard, the head of Look Ahead America and a former Trump aide, rejected the idea that the rally was designed to support anyone who committed acts of violence on Jan. 6. Those people, he said, should be tried and imprisoned.
But he argued fervently for the rights of those charged with non-violent crimes who are still being held, urging their immediate release. He also told the assembled crowd to respect the law enforcement officers patrolling the area.
"There are uniformed officers here who I demand that you respect, you're kind to, you're respectful to and you're obedient to. They're here to keep us safe. We're counting on them to do that," Braynard said, adding a similar request for treatment of the media.
Braynard had made another request heading into the rally, asking participants not to bring clothing or paraphernalia promoting Trump or any other political figure — a request that was largely heeded by the crowd.
But just across Third Street, on the eastern edge of the Mall, a vendor was selling Trump hats and T-shirts. Business, it appeared, was brisk.
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