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Prisoners charged with and convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, are reportedly growing more radical by being held together in a Washington, D.C., a harbinger of the dark mood around the 2024 election as top Republicans continue to deny or avoid the fact Trump lost the 2020 election and the former president himself has mused publicly in recent days that his supporters want him to “go after” his enemies.
Current and former inmates of the unit at the D.C. Jail, dubbed the “Patriot Wing,” told New York Magazine that their time facing charges for January 6 and living together only hardened their support for the false stolen election claims of Donald Trump, who has promised to pardon January 6 rioters.
“I haven’t met a single person here who regrets January 6,” Dominic Box, 34, who is charged with felony civil disorder, told the magazine. “Or who doesn’t think that it was a noble cause.”
“I definitely am so much more for overthrowing the government after what they did to me,” former Patriot Wing inmate Brandon Fellows added in the piece. “I’m totally down. Especially if Trump doesn’t get in. I want it to happen. I wasn’t onboard before, but now — f*** these guys.”
Inside the wing, inmates also reportedly screen new transfers for their politics and ideology, and make threats to those who cooperated with the government or are suspected to be informants.
The Independent has contacted officials overseeing the D.C. jail for comment.
Beyond just pushing each other further in support of Donald Trump’s stolen election narrative, those inside the prison have also used the web to spread their views to others, including recording multiple episodes of a video discussion show that was broadcast online and received thousands of videos.
The show is part of a wider movement framing the more than 1,000 people who have been convicted of January 6-related offenses as political prisoners and victims of unjust detention, a movement that includes regular vigils, fundraising for legal defense, and cash gifts to fill up the commissary accounts of rioters behind bars.
Donald Trump himself is a part of the push.
In March of 2023, he released a song with a choir composed of January 6 rioters, which he regularly played on the campaign trail.
Organizers have planned this year to hold a gala in honor of January 6 rioters at Trump’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, though the event has been postponed multiple times, and it’s unclear if the former president planned to attend it.
The election denialism that fueled the January 6 riot hasn’t gone anywhere either.
In recent days, top Republicans including JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senator Tom Cotton have refused to say Trump lost the 2020 election.
As of last month, more than 1,000 people hailing from nearly all 50 states had been convicted ofJanuary 6-related crimes, with roughly 350 trials still pending, the largest criminal investigation and prosecution in U.S. history.
