Wrapped up in their thick coats, about ten people brave the cold outside a prison in Washington. They pray and sing their support for those on the other side of the gate who are imprisoned for their role in the attack on the Capitol following Donald Trump's defeat three years ago.
Almost every evening, these defenders of the former president gather in this “freedom corner” in a quiet neighborhood of the American capital to share pizza and hot chocolate, support their loved ones and deliver a political message.
“I feel like it's important to show the other January 6th families that they can persevere, that they'll be okay,” Nicole Reffitt told AFP. Her husband was the first to be convicted for his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Congress certified Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
This small late-night crowd waving American flags is not an isolated incident: many Americans still believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, despite all evidence to the contrary and at the start of a new election year.
“Political prisoner”
According to this small group, nearly 1,300 people have been charged in the sprawling Capitol attack case, and about 40 of them are currently in custody at this Washington prison awaiting sentencing.
As of 2022, it was founded specifically around the mother of Ashli Babbitt, an attacker who was killed by police on January 6th. “After Ashli was killed, I wanted to give her a voice,” says her mother Micki Witthoeft. “I think she would have supported the men inside.”
When she says she is not in favor of granting a pardon to everyone involved that day, she is asserting that they were sentenced too harshly.
That evening, police monitor the circle of worshipers outside the prison while some broadcast these small ceremonies live on YouTube. And as is often the case, they call those inside by telephone and refer to them as “political prisoners.”
“A joke”
The latter spend their few authorized minutes talking about the weather, the news of the day or even asking for financial support. At 9:00 p.m., several calls were made simultaneously to sing the American anthem together.
It is this spirit of solidarity that Nicole Reffitt strives for, providing warmth and comfort to other families as a “field team” and assisting some of the accused relatives at court hearings. When Joe Biden, 81, launched his campaign in early January with a direct attack on Donald Trump, 77, she favored “more youth” to lead the country.
On the phone, Tamara Perryman, whose husband is accused of violence against a police officer on January 6, 2021, discusses the election with another inmate in the Capitol attack, Frank Rocco Giustino. “They’re not real delinquents,” she tells him, and he agrees, calling it a “prank” before the phone cuts out at the end of the approved time limit.
To end their evening in the light of the street lamps, these guards hold each other's shoulders in a circle and sing together “God bless the USA”, the famous patriotic ode with which Donald Trump takes the stage at his meetings.