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Capitol Police Chief Says Capitol Protesters Have Right To Free Speech

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger is not playing politics when it comes to the rally for the prisoners who were arrested in the January 6 incident at the Capitol.

In a press conference with reporters about how he would handle the protest for the people who are behind bars awaiting trial, Newsmax reported.

He said his department has a “strong plan in place to ensure” the protest “remains peaceful, and that if violence does occur that we can stop it as quickly as possible.”

“We are here to protect everyone’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest,” Manger said. “I urge anyone who is thinking about causing trouble to stay home. We will enforce the law and not tolerate violence.”

The chief was asked by a reporter if he knew of any member of Congress who was planning on attending the rally and if he would address “the underlying purpose of this rally” which is that protesters believe those being held in prison for their role in the January 6 incident are “political prisoners.”

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But the chief was not interested in playing political games with the reporter.

“You’re not going to like my answer,” Manger said, as he insisted that “everybody’s got the right to free speech.

“They can believe what they want to believe. I’m there to uphold the rule of law and make sure everybody’s safe,” he said.

“We are here to protect everyone’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest,” he had said in a statement a day before talking to reporters. “I urge anyone who is thinking about causing trouble to stay home. We will enforce the law and not tolerate violence.”

He said that they did not have any specific intelligence on any planned attacks at the Capitol, though security fencing is being used to keep the Capitol safe.

“Capitol Police have installed temporary high-tech security cameras to allow them a vaster view of the Capitol complex. A Capitol security board on Monday approved a plan to reinstall a seven-foot fence around the main Capitol building, which had stood for months after January’s deadly assault,” The Hill reported.

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, expressed his support for the protesters in an email via his Save America PAC.

“Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election. In addition to everything else, it has proven conclusively that we are a two-tiered system of justice,” he said. “In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL.”

Recently one of the protesters, who was allowed to go back home as he awaited trial, was sent back behind bars because, a judge decided, that he violated the terms of his deal by watching the Mike Lindell Cyber Symposium.

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A judge last week issued a controversial decision as he sentenced a man to prison against an Iowa man who was involved in the events at the Capitol on January 6.

Doug Jensen, 42, was sent back to prison for listening to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s cyber symposium on the Internet, CNN reported.

The reason given for his going back to the slammer, a mere seven weeks after he was released, was that he violated the conditions of his release by accessing conspiracy theories.

Those conditions included a prohibition on using the internet — to keep Jensen away from the QAnon conspiracy, which he previously admitted to investigators was the reason he breached the Capitol. But when court officials made their first unannounced visit to check on Jensen at his home last month, they found him in his garage, using a cell phone to stream a right-wing news outlet.

According to court filings, Jensen admitted to the court officials that he also used the phone to stream a conspiracy-filled symposium held by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a diehard supporter of former President Donald Trump who has repeatedly pushed debunked claims and haywire theories about foreign countries switching millions of votes to steal the election from Trump.

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Jensen was released in July because he said that he had debunked conspiracy theories and disavowed them.

“But it’s now clear that he has not experienced the transformation that his lawyer previously described and that he continues to seek out the conspiracy theories that led to his dangerous conduct on January 6,” District Judge Timothy Kelly said. “I don’t see any reason to believe that he has had the wake-up call that he needs.”

“I think it’s probably a logical inference,” the judge said, “that there are no conditions that will assure Mr. Jensen will not pose a danger to the safety of the community.”

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