A group led by a former Trump campaign operative is planning a rally in support of jailed January 6th rioters in Washington D.C. on September 18th. The Capitol Police will be “full activated” both the day before and the day of the event – dubbed ‘Justice for J6’ – which organizers estimate will draw 700 people.
The nonprofit behind the event, Look Ahead America, has embraced a counter narrative of January 6th, claiming the rioters “reasonably believed they had permission” to enter the Capitol. They assert that the approximately 570 people charged with federal crimes related to the riots are “political prisoners.”
Video evidence, eye witness accounts, and multiple investigations belie that notion. Rioters pushed through barricades, assaulted police officers, and destroyed property. Many of them pled guilty to their crimes.
Yet, Matt Braynard, Look Ahead America’s founder and leader, told Buzzfeed News, “This is the modern civil rights struggle of our time.”
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told CNN that law enforcement should take the event “very seriously.”
“In fact,” McCabe added, “they should take it more seriously than they took the same sort of intelligence that they likely saw on January 5.”
Several factors indicate that the ‘Justice for J6’ rally won’t provoke the type of mayhem that temporarily halted the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The event will be held on a Saturday, when Congress is not in session. In addition, extremist groups like the Proud Boys have indicated that they’ll stay away from the demonstration. “We aren’t going and you shouldn’t either because errbody going to jail. Sounds like bait,” the Proud Boys wrote in a social media message.
Braynard, the ‘Justice for J6’ organizer, was dismissed from the 2016 Trump campaign after he asked for more money, although colleagues complained about his competency, telling Buzzfeed News, “he wasn’t really qualified” for his job.
He’s since popped up at a number of politically dubious events. Buzzfeed reports that he’s “Forrest Gumping his way through the postelection Trump universe.” The outlet explains:
In December, he testified alongside Rudy Giuliani alleging mass voter fraud in Arizona. A week later, he told legislators in Georgia that he’d found 21,000 illegal ballots in the state (before his data was methodically torn apart by a Democratic legislator who tracked down several of the voters herself). He was a paid expert witness in three cases challenging the election results, none of which went anywhere. Long after Trump left office, he has continued releasing reports of “illegal ballots” in Wisconsin and Georgia and is working on one for Arizona, all states where pro-Trump Republicans have pushed for so-called audits of the election.
Braynard has already held several small rallies in support of the jailed rioters and he’s written letters defending them to the Department of Justice. The Washington Post adds more detail:
Braynard has held rallies for Jan. 6 arrestees before, including a small showing in July outside the D.C. Central Detention Facility where about 100 demonstrators gathered and carried signs that said “protests are not insurrections” and “patriots are not terrorists.” D.C. jail officials have also turned away Republican members of Congress — Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (Tex.) — who showed up in July demanding to inspect the treatment and conditions of those detained on charges related to the Jan. 6 riot.
Of course, Braynard is also fundraising. “Between Dec. 10 and May 20, he raked in $675,000 for his voter fraud research on GiveSendGo, a Christian fundraising website that has become popular among far-right figures and accused Capitol rioters raising money for their legal defense,” according to Buzzfeed.
Braynard’s organization is working with officials in D.C. to get a permit for ‘Justice for J6.’
“While there’s no indication this demonstration is to be outside of the routine for us, we will allocate resources to be able to respond if necessary,” Dustin Sternbeck, a spokesman for the D.C. police, told The Post. “Again our priority is the safety of all and we will continue to monitor on an ongoing basis.”
