Pelosi says lawmakers will get security briefing on ‘Justice for J6’ rally

September 9, 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said on Wednesday, September 8,  that lawmakers will be briefed in the coming days about security plans for the Capitol during a rally later this month in support of people charged with crimes related to the January 6 insurrection—and maintained that “we intend to have the integrity of the Capitol be intact,” reports The Hill.

Pelosi said that “there are some briefings going on at the appropriate level” with the House Administration Committee, which will be followed by additional ones for other members of Congress ahead of the September 18 “Justice for J6” rally, when people demonstrating against those arrested for invading the Capitol are set to gather.

When asked if there are plans to reinstall a fence around the Capitol complex, which came down this spring, Pelosi told the press pool: “Not necessarily.”

“What happened on January 6 was such an assault on this beautiful Capitol,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “And now these people are coming back to praise the people who were out to kill. Out to kill members of Congress, successfully causing the deaths—successfully is not the word, but that’s the word, because it’s what they set out to do—of our law enforcement.”

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died a day after engaging with the violent mob of former President Donald Trump‘s supporters, while four other police officers from the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department died of suicide in the weeks after the attack. More than 140 police officers between the two departments were injured.

The Hill reported on Tuesday that the Capitol Police are planning to present a security plan this week to the Capitol Police Board, which oversees its activities. The Metropolitan Police Department is also planning an “increased presence around the city,” according to a spokesperson.

The September 18 rally in support of the more than 570 people charged with crimes related to the attack on the Capitol is being organized by a group called Look Ahead America, which is led by a former Trump campaign official. The event is not expected to draw as many people as the rally on January 6, but some members of the same right-wing extremist groups that were at the Capitol on the day of the insurrection also may be in attendance on September 18.

Matt Braynard, the executive director of the group organizing the September 18 rally, has urged attendees to “be respectful and kind to all law enforcement officers” and advised only bringing signs or clothing focused on “demanding justice for these political prisoners.”

Neither chamber of Congress is scheduled to be in session on September18, which falls on a Saturday. The House isn’t expected to return from its summer recess until two days later.

Research contact: @thehill

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