Protesters supporting U.S. President Donald Trump break into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger is set to brief congressional leaders about the security plans being made for an upcoming rally in support of rioters who were jailed during the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol invasion, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Wednesday.
The Sept. 18 event at the U.S. Capitol, dubbed the “Justice for J6” rally, comes more than eight months after hundreds of former President Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed that building, forcing Congress into hiding and temporarily derailing efforts to confirm President Joe Biden‘s victory.
More than 600 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. Dozens have already pleaded guilty.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has invited Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to her office next Monday at 11:15 a.m. ET to be briefed by Manger, the person told CNBC.
The USCP declined to comment on “any potential security briefings.”
Pelosi at a press conference earlier Wednesday said that there are already briefings taking place “at the appropriate level” in the House Administration Committee.
She declined to go into specifics on the security measures being taken at the Capitol, but said there are “not necessarily” plans to reinstall fencing around the building that was erected in the wake of Jan. 6.
The rally for jailed Capitol rioters was organized by Matt Braynard, a former Trump campaign staffer, through the group Look Ahead America, which aims to push for “America First initiatives” such as “fighting corporate censorship and ensuring voter integrity.”
The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, at a time when few lawmakers are likely to be on Capitol Hill.
“There is no possibility of violence form our peaceful protest,” Braynard said in an email to CNBC. He noted that similar rallies organized by his group “occurred without incident.”
One of those rallies, held in June outside the Department of Justice building in Washington, was attended by a sitting congressman, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, as well as John Pierce, an attorney for many of the criminal defendants in Capitol riot cases.
Another protest took place in mid-July outside the D.C. Central Detention Facility. Some members of that crowd reportedly said they had traveled from across the country to demonstrate in support of the jailed defendants, calling them “political prisoners.”