A few hundred people in support of those arrested for the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol rallied at the Capitol building on Saturday, Sept. 18.

U.S. Capitol police, metropolitan police and park police were in attendance with the National Guard on stand-by in preparation of any violence.

No violent encounter occurred during the scheduled event time, 12 pm – 1:15 pm, but some rally participants said they were expecting to storm the Capitol later in the day. While many attendees opted out of sharing their name with the media, they were open to speaking about their expectation of violence at the rally.

One person who identified himself as a D.C. attorney said he’s supporting First Amendment rights and proving to others how peaceful the protest really is.

“There’s a lot of information probably in the mainstream media trying to portray this as a difficult or violent thing but it’s a very peaceful assembly of people expressing their First Amendment rights,” he said.

Matt Braynard, Lead Ahead America’s executive director, insisted on protestors respecting all security at the event as well as all media organizations in attendance.

Though the protest is in support of those arrested on January 6th, some are using it as a way to educate themselves on both sides.

Georgia, a Florida native on vacation in D.C., said she didn’t know about the rally before coming but once she saw the crowd and understood the meaning she felt drawn to the rally.

“Just kind of curious as to what the people who are defending the people that came into the Capitol, why they feel the need to defend them, what the reasoning behind that was and if it’s really as volatile as they say it is,” Georgia said.

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