House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday sharply condemned those who are planning to take part in a Sept. 18 rally outside the U.S. Capitol, accusing them of “coming back to praise the people who were out to kill” during the Jan. 6 attack by a pro-Trump mob.
In response to a question at her weekly news conference, Pelosi said that the House Administration Committee is holding briefings related to the upcoming rally and that she will make an announcement on the topic soon.
Supporters of former president Donald Trump are planning to rally outside the Capitol to argue that the hundreds of people charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection are political prisoners, an assertion that has exploded beyond far-right rallying cries and into mainstream conservatism.
“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,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday morning.
Brian D. Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer, died a day after being injured in the Jan. 6 attack.
Pelosi added: “So this is a — whatever your questions are, understand how strongly we think about this … because we want to return the Capitol to a place where people can come, children can learn, families can celebrate together the greatness of our country.”
Asked specifically whether there are plans for fencing to be re-erected around the Capitol, Pelosi replied, “Not necessarily, no.”
“We intend to have the integrity of the Capitol be intact,” she said. “I’m not going into any specifics in that regard.”
Look Ahead America, a nonprofit group founded and led by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign operative, is planning the “Justice for J6” rally to bring its message to Washington.
Braynard’s followers say many of the more than 570 people who have been charged with federal crimes in the attack were nonviolent and “reasonably believed they had permission” to enter the Capitol, according to a Jan. 29 letter Braynard sent to the Department of Justice and FBI.
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The group has requested to hold its rally at Union Square, the public park by the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and predicts that about 700 people will attend.
The rally comes more than eight months after a violent mob stormed the seat of the U.S. government on Jan. 6, disrupting Congress in a bid to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory and resulting in the deaths of five people.
In her remarks Wednesday, Pelosi described the events of Jan. 6 as an assault on both the Capitol and the Constitution.
“January 6th is not just any random day,” Pelosi said. “It is a day prescribed in the Constitution of the United States for the Congress of the United States to accept the results of the election as put forth by who won the electoral college.”
She added that it was “so sad” that even after all of the horror of that day, once the House came back into session, “a majority of the Republicans in the House voted not to accept that certification of the electoral college.”
In response to a question at her weekly news conference, Pelosi said that the House Administration Committee is holding briefings related to the upcoming rally and that she will make an announcement on the topic soon.
Supporters of former president Donald Trump are planning to rally outside the Capitol to argue that the hundreds of people charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection are political prisoners, an assertion that has exploded beyond far-right rallying cries and into mainstream conservatism.
“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,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday morning.
Brian D. Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer, died a day after being injured in the Jan. 6 attack.
Pelosi added: “So this is a — whatever your questions are, understand how strongly we think about this … because we want to return the Capitol to a place where people can come, children can learn, families can celebrate together the greatness of our country.”
Asked specifically whether there are plans for fencing to be re-erected around the Capitol, Pelosi replied, “Not necessarily, no.”
“We intend to have the integrity of the Capitol be intact,” she said. “I’m not going into any specifics in that regard.”
Look Ahead America, a nonprofit group founded and led by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign operative, is planning the “Justice for J6” rally to bring its message to Washington.
Braynard’s followers say many of the more than 570 people who have been charged with federal crimes in the attack were nonviolent and “reasonably believed they had permission” to enter the Capitol, according to a Jan. 29 letter Braynard sent to the Department of Justice and FBI.
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The group has requested to hold its rally at Union Square, the public park by the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and predicts that about 700 people will attend.
The rally comes more than eight months after a violent mob stormed the seat of the U.S. government on Jan. 6, disrupting Congress in a bid to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory and resulting in the deaths of five people.
In her remarks Wednesday, Pelosi described the events of Jan. 6 as an assault on both the Capitol and the Constitution.
“January 6th is not just any random day,” Pelosi said. “It is a day prescribed in the Constitution of the United States for the Congress of the United States to accept the results of the election as put forth by who won the electoral college.”
She added that it was “so sad” that even after all of the horror of that day, once the House came back into session, “a majority of the Republicans in the House voted not to accept that certification of the electoral college.”
