Trump allies to rally Saturday at Capitol

Event a show of support for Jan. 6 ‘political prisoners,’ organizer says

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger and his team head to a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders for a briefing as security officials prepare for a Sept. 18 demonstration by supporters of the people arrested in the Jan. 6 riot, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger and his team head to a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders for a briefing as security officials prepare for a Sept. 18 demonstration by supporters of the people arrested in the Jan. 6 riot, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON -- Allies of former President Donald Trump are calling those charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol "political prisoners," ahead of a rally planned for Saturday at the Capitol to recast the insurrection that attempted to stop Congress from certifying the election of Democrat Joe Biden.

The anticipated crowd size and the intensity of the Saturday rally are unclear, but law enforcement appears to be taking no chances. Security fencing has been requested around the Capitol and reinforcements are being summoned to back up the Capitol Police, whose leadership was criticized and summarily dismissed for its handling of Jan. 6. Congressional leaders were being briefed on the preparations Monday morning.

The new characterization of the Jan. 6 attack threatens to further divide an already polarized nation.

"Some people are calling it Jan. 6 trutherism -- they're rewriting the narrative to make it seem like Jan. 6 was no big deal, and it was a d* big deal, and an attack on our democracy," said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, who studies extremist movements.

While authorities have been bracing for a repeat appearance by right-wing extremist groups and other Trump loyalists who mobbed the Capitol, it's unclear whether those actors will participate in the new event. The extremist groups are concerning because, while members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers made up a small portion of the Jan. 6 rioters, they are accused of some of the more serious crimes in the attack.

Whether those groups participate or not, the rally could bring lone actors to Washington. Just after midnight on Monday, Capitol Police arrested a man who had a bayonet and machete in his pickup outside Democratic National Committee headquarters. The man, Donald Craighead of Oceanside, Calif., had a swastika and other white supremacist symbols painted on his truck and told officers he was "on patrol." The police said it was unclear whether he was planning on attending any upcoming demonstrations.

Rally organizer Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign strategist, has been promoting the event and others like it in cities nationwide, focusing attention on what he calls the "prisoners" being unfairly prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 riot.

"I am so proud of all of the brave patriots who participated in these rallies under the same threat to their rights of so many who are being held in prison now for a non-violent expression of their First Amendment rights," he said in a July news release.

Braynard declined to respond to additional questions by email, and The Associated Press declined to accept the conditions he made for an interview.

More than 600 people are facing federal charges in the riot that injured dozens of officers and sent lawmakers into hiding. Five people eventually died, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into a lobby off the House chamber. Several police officers later took their own lives.

Only a fraction of the defendants remain locked up while they await trial. Lawyers have complained of overly harsh conditions for the Jan. 6 defendants in the D.C. jail, saying they are being held in what has been dubbed the "Patriot Unit."

Information for this article was contributed by Alanna Durkin, Michael Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press.

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