Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump supporters to hold ‘peaceful’ rally at Florida Capitol demanding release of 6 January rioters

Event being organised by Republican Senate candidate claims 500 defendants are ‘political prisoners’

Louise Hall
Thursday 08 July 2021 11:40 EDT
Comments
‘This is our house’: Trump supporters storm Capitol building

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Pro-Trump supporters have organised a rally in Florida this weekend at the state’s Capitol building, calling for the release of “political prisoners” who have been arrested in connection with the 6 January Capitol riots.

The “free our patriots” rally has been organised by a Republican candidate challenging Marco Rubio for Senate and is billed as a “peaceful demonstration” against the “corrupt federal government”.

According to a press release, protesters are planning to gather on 10 July at 1pm at the Florida Capitol Building in Tallahassee.

Demonstrators will be “demanding the release of all the patriots being held as political prisoners by the corrupt federal government in relation to 6 January”.

On 6 January, pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol in Washington in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election result following a Save America rally hosted by former President Donald Trump.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested 500 people in connection to the riots, with attendees charged on a variety of counts including vandalisation, obstruction of proceedings and assault of police officers.

The sunshine state has seen a disproportionate amount of residents arrested in connection to the day, being tied with Texas for the most arrests following the riots at 47 individuals, a USA Today database showed.

More than 40 per cent of the members of right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers and a quarter of the Proud Boys arrested over the riots are also from Florida, the database also revealed.

The “free our patriots” release, which refers to Mr Trump as the “legitimate president”, says attendees will be campaigning for the exoneration of “political prisoners” arrested in connection with the 6 January.

Five people died following the violence at the Capitol, including one Capitol police officer. Violent footage released by the FBI has revealed the brutal assaults on officers by some Trump supporters.

The release emphasised that the event will be a “peaceful demonstration” to petition “our great governor Ron DeSantis to demand the immediate release of the incarcerated patriots”.

“We are sure that once Gov DeSantis takes the lead, other patriots elected officials throughout the country will make the same push and then Washington will have no choice but to bend,” the release says.

The former president has baselessly maintained that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him without evidence and the “free our patriots” release pushed similar inaccurate sentiments.

The demonstration is being organised by the team of Luis Miguel for Senate, a candidate challenging Marco Rubio in the GOP primary for the 2022 race.

“Folks, the patriots who have been hunted down by the corrupt, communist FBI are suffering. Many of them are veterans who fought for this nation,” Mr Miguel said in a post on Twitter.

He added: “Let’s do our part to ensure they’re liberated. We can’t allow this in America. Be there at the Florida Capitol 10 July.”

The rally comes not long after Mr Trump held a rally in the state on Saturday during which he reiterated false voter fraud claims and suggested Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 presidential election.

The former president also said on Wednesday that he thinks those arrested in connection to the riots are being “treated unfairly” during an announcement that he will sue Big Tech, including Twitter and Facebook, for banning him from their platforms for “inciting violence” amid the riots.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in