Opinion: Trump Supporters Plan to Return To the Capitol “Where it All Started” in a “Huge Protest”

Republicans are desperate to convince Americans that the insurrection and attempted coup d’etat on January 6 never happened. And for Americans who know it did happen, they are moving proverbial Heaven and solid Earth to either make the people forget or pretend it was a church ice cream social.

Apparently, that message never reached a group of Trump supporters who promise they are “going back to the Capitol” to protest in support of what they claim are the “political prisoners” charged in the January 6 insurrection.

The announcement of the “huge” protest came from Trump’s former data chief during the 2016 campaign. Matt Braynard told former Trump devotee Steve Bannon that:

“We’re going back to the Capitol, right where it started. And it’s going to be huge.” The “huge” protest is being hailed as “JusticeforJ6.”

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According to Braynard, the “huge” protest has two specific purposes that are not unrelated to various Republican narratives that the insurrection was not really a violent insurrection, and that those charged are being unfairly treated as “political prisoners.” Braynard said:

“As we continue to raise the profiles of these individuals who have been arrested, it makes it harder and harder for the left’s phony narrative about an insurrection to stick. We’re going to push back on the phony narrative that there was an insurrection.”

It’s apparent that Braynard has listened carefully to the Trump Republicans’ false retelling of the deadly attack on the nation’s Capitol. In fact, it is glaringly obvious that he must have taken a page out of the Trump Republicans’ book of lies and claims January 6 was nothing whatsoever for Americans to get worked up about.

To hear Braynard and many Trump Republicans tell it,  the images all Americans viewed of Trump supporters tearing apart the Capitol and beating police officers are lies.

In fact, Braynard told Steve Bannon that Trump’s insurrectionists were “largely peaceful” despite being “egged on by the Capitol Police.”

Braynard knows the insurrection wasn’t peaceful and he is either stupid beyond belief to think anyone believes his false narrative or a highly-paid provocateur; it is likely a lot of both. The images of police officers being beaten and Trump thugs forcing their way into the Capitol cannot be considered peaceful by anyone. Even Senate Miinority Leader Mitch McConnell accurately described the events of January 6 in a Senate speech.

Now, regarding Braynard’s assertion that Trump’s attempted coup was not an insurrection, the legal definition rightly describes precisely what occurred after Trump incited his devotees to “go fight harder.” An insurrection is:

“A rising or rebellion of citizens against their government, usually manifested by acts of violence. Under federal law it is a crime to incite, assist, or engage in such conduct against the United States.”

The “JusticeforJ6” huge protest is planned to take place on the West Lawn of the Capitol. That is the same location where Trump’s insurrectionists advanced on the Capitol directly after listening to Trump order them to go there and “fight much harder.”

Braynard told Huffington Post that the protest is in support of all those “nonviolent” Capitol attackers who were arrested and charged. Braynard claims those insurrectionists are “political prisoners.”

Naturally those “nonviolent attackers” include the terrorist Ashli Babbit who crawled through a broken window of a barricaded door to lead the attack on members of Congress. As a mob of Trump’s insurrectionists shouted “Let’s go” and “F*ck the blue,” a Capitol Police officer warned the terrorist Babbit to stop before he fatally shot her.

Despite the Capitol Police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing, Braynard joins a chorus of Trump acolytes who continue claiming that Babbit had “been executed.”

Braynard claims to have already been granted permission to hold the “rally” by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) “pending final checks the day of the protest.” But a spokesperson for the MPD would not confirm that a permit had been approved and said “the department is aware of the protest but cannot discuss a permit or security plans.”

It remains to be seen if the “JusticeForJ6” protest actually comes to fruition, but it is clear that the effort to pretend there was no insurrection or violence on January 6 is no longer just Republican rhetoric promoting a false narrative.

No doubt if the protest does come to pass, law enforcement will be out in force and take the threat of another insurrection seriously; especially because Trump’s supporters are convinced he is destined to be reinstated in the White House. What can possibly go wrong?

Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.