Former President and GOP nominee Donald Trump has reportedly "expressed interest" at attending a gala honoring Jan. 6 rioters and set to be held at his New Jersey golf club in September. This is despite his campaign previously commenting he would not make an appearance.
The event will be held on Sept. 5 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and it will seek to raise money for defendants charged in connection to the riot at the Capitol. Trump was reportedly invited to attend. Household MAGA names like Rudy Giuliani and Anthony Raimondi are expected to be guest speakers.
The former President's campaign said on Friday that he would not be in attendance to the dubbed "J6 Awards Gala," but an organizer said there is a chance he still shows up at the club during the event.
"Mr. Trump has expressed interest in coming and we are waiting for the campaign's final approval," an organizer told NBC New York.
The campaign has made no further comment regarding Trump's involvement the day of the event.
A description for the gala says the gathering will "honor and celebrate" the 20 defendants who contributed to the charity song "Justice For All," which was released in 2023 by Trump and a group of men imprisoned for the riots, who call themselves the J6 Prison Choir.
"This gala is not just a celebration of the song's success but also a crucial fundraiser," the gala's website reads. "The funds raised will provide much-needed assistance to the January 6th defendants who continue to face significant challenges."
The event will be hosted by the Stand in the Gap Foundation, a "non-profit foundation dedicated to advocating for change in re-entry, family services, and justice reform," that focuses on Jan. 6 defendants.
Sponsors of the event include Stand in the Gap, Glory Bank and The America Project, according to the Daily Beast. Tickets to the gala range from $2,500 for general admission to $50,000 for a VIP Platinum table for 12 guests.
The gala is already causing criticism among the public and former Washington personalities alike.
For instance, former Trump White House staffer Olivia Troye called the fundraiser "absolutely horrid" in a recent social media post.
"Celebrating the people who endangered the life of his own Vice President & glorifying violence is a dangerous assault on our democracy and a disgraceful rewriting of history," Troye wrote. "We must all stand together against him."
Similarly, former U.S. Capitol Police Office Harry Dunn questioned the integrity of the event.
"These people who are calling themselves ' hostages' assaulted police officers, violently and viciously attacked 140 of my co-workers and colleagues," Dunn said. "Supporting people who assaulted law enforcement, who sought to overthrow the government, who were chanting 'hang Mike Pence' and going to kill Nancy Pelosi— they're going to celebrate that?"
More than 1,265 people across nearly all 50 states and D.C. have been federally charged in the three years since the Capitol riot, according to a 2024 report released marking the milestone. About 750 have been sentenced.
Five people died in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Those include former U.S. Capitol police officer and New Jerseyan Brian Sicknick, whose family was among those speakers at the Democratic National Convention last week.
As per Trump, he was indicted on four criminal counts by a federal grand jury investigating the Capitol riot and other efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The indictment alleges Trump, after losing the 2020 presidential election, "was determined to remain in power."
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