Despite fears around D.C. about the pro-January 6th rally that was held on the National Mall, reports suggest that there were more police and reporters than there were actual demonstrators and counter-protesters. At least one report suggests that the number of protestors was around the 100-200 ballpark, others around 400 or so.
I had almost attended myself, but decided that it was probably getting too much hype, and I was correct. There were a few reasons why I had suspected it as such:
DC Police and Capitol Hill security were much better prepared than January 6th. The black-gates surrounding Capitol Hill for 6 months after the January 6th insurrection came up again two-days ago, and the national-guard was on standby.
The problem with conspiracy-minded individuals is that they tend to see a conspiracy brewing even within their own ranks. The Proud Boys, one of the organizers of the January 6th insurrection warned to avoid today’s rally, and other far-right voices believed that it was a police setup.
No members of Congress or in Trump’s inner circle (other than the former Trump campaign aide who organized the event) were present or endorsed the rally. Compared to January 6th when Trump himself, as well as individuals like Roger Stone, had spoken to “Stop The Steal” demonstrators the day of January 6th or the day before on the 5th (where I saw Stone himself address pro-Trump crowds in front of the Supreme Court).
The arrests and trials of the 600+ insurrectionists by the courts has seemed to put a damper on mass rallies like on Capitol Hill—for now. Police and the FBI are also monitoring social-media closely, along with social-media companies, themselves, disabling both real and fake accounts pushing QAnon and Q-adjacent conspiracy theories. However, there are some dynamics between the far-right and the Republican Party that make things more dangerous than immediately after January 6th.
Conservatives are generally no longer hiding behind the myths that #BlackLivesMatter or Antifa were behind the January 6th insurrection—the insurrectionists are claimed as their own. Trump himself attempted to make Ashli Babbitt, who was shot while storming into one of the Capitol Hill rooms with barricaded representatives, into a martyr with a cause. In a post-9/11 America where far-right terrorism is now deadlier than Jihadism and other types of terrorism, this development is by far a more dangerous element to America’s ongoing democratic experiment than we’ve experienced so far.
Indeed, the far-right elements within American conservatism is taking its fight to the grass-roots level. Large conservative groups are helping fund protests at local school-boards across the country surrounding the intense anger from Trump supporters on masks mandates and teaching America’s history on racial issues in the classroom (under the umbrella of “Critical Race Theory”). The far-right is aiming to lay low in the media and public view, while moving its mobilization efforts in local communities and rural areas. They’re also messaging on alternative social-media platforms that are harder to monitor than in the days pre-January 6th.
The far-right isn’t gone, and it won’t be until it’s addressed at the localized level in rural communities. Otherwise, we’re left with a more powerful far-right that’s built from the grassroots-on-up.