This Saturday's "Justice for J6" rally in Washington has the U.S. Capitol Police asking the Department of Defense to provide National Guard support upon request, Axios reported Wednesday.
"The USCP has asked the Department of Defense for the ability to receive National Guard support should the need arise on Sept. 18," according to a USCP statement.
The Pentagon has confirmed that the request has been received.
"We're analyzing it, and if it can be validated and supported, we'll do that and we'll look at the sourcing inside the department as to what's most appropriate," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday, according to the report.
The news comes after a temporary fence around the Capitol is returning for the weekend rally, which is being hosted by the nonprofit group Look Ahead America to support those arrested after the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
A large force has not been requested, since estimates of rally attendance are in the hundreds and not the thousands, but the National Guard would be used more in the way of support, according to Kirby.
The request is "not of a particularly large size or major capability," he said, according to the report. "I think it's more in the form of some manpower support."
Supporters of former President Donald Trump, like Roger Stone, said the calls for National Guard and fencing are meant to be an "agitprop" or a "setup" for MAGA backers.
Look Ahead America founder Matt Braynard tweeted a plea to rally attendees not to wear MAGA or political gear:
"We request that anybody attending our events not wear any clothing or have signs supportive of either President Trump or Biden. Anyone not honoring this request will be assumed to be an infiltrator and we will take your picture, find out who you are, and make you famous."
Braynard stressed in an ensuing tweet that the rally is about those jailed in connection with the so-called Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6:
"This event is 100% about #JusticeforJ6 and not the election or any candidate."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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