Law enforcement officials plan to reinstall fences around the Capitol ahead of a rally in the nation’s capital next week, according to new reports.
Hundreds are expected to attend the Sept. 18 rally to demand “justice” for Capitol protesters who have been jailed since a riot there on Jan. 6.
“Though no specific measures have been announced, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted during her weekly press conference Wednesday at extra safety precautions for the Sept. 18 rally by saying: ‘We intend to have the integrity of the Capitol be intact,’” The Associated Press reported. “Briefings for lawmakers, including congressional leaders, are expected in coming days.”
The AP reported that fencing will be installed on the streets surrounding the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, but not around nearby congressional office buildings. “The Capitol Police formally requested the fence to the board that oversees it, and it is likely to be approved, according to a House Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions,” said the wire service.
Groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are planning to attend next week’s rally, according to intelligence, the AP reported. But Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has said he “doesn’t expect his membership to attend.”
Organizers of the Capitol rally dubbed the “Justice For J6,” say they have received multiple death threats, all turned over to U.S. Capitol Police to investigate.
Matt Braynard, executive director of Look Ahead America, the organizer, said left-leaning activists have threatened him and the group over its continued plan to demand that the protesters are treated as least as well as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and Trump inauguration protesters, most of whom saw charges of violence dropped.
“Despite all of this entirely peaceful operation by us, I’m being bombarded with death threats and threats of violence. So, all the violence happening here is exclusively coming from the Left, all the threats of real violence that we’re seeing here,” Braynard told The Washington Examiner.
On January 6, following a pro-Trump rally, a mob swarmed the Capitol as lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence were just beginning to tabulate the 2020 Electoral College vote. Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump by a 306-232 vote in the college.
In a speech before the riot, Trump delivered an hourlong speech in which he said the “emboldened radical-left Democrats” and the media had conspired against him.
“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore,” he declared.
At one point in the speech, pointing toward the Capitol down Constitution Avenue, Trump said: “After this, we’re going to walk down there, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down … to the Capitol and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
He later wrote on Twitter: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”