Cobb GOP Plans Candlelight Vigil For 'J6 Patriots' As Capitol Riot Anniversary Approaches

COBB COUNTY, GA — It's been almost a year since a violent mob broke through the barriers at the U.S. Capitol, attacked Capitol Police and attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election after former President Donald Trump said he would never concede the election to President Joe Biden.

The storming of the Capitol ended in the death of four people, hundreds of injuries — including 140 police officers — more than 700 arrests and about $1.5 million in damage to the building, according to the Washington Post.

And while the deadly events of Jan. 6, 2021 will be recognized with solemn commemorations across the country on the one-year anniversary Thursday, the Cobb County GOP will be recognizing the anniversary differently.

A Cobb GOP committee will be hosting a two-hour Jan. 6 program titled "The Patriots Are Awake, Willing and Eager to Protect Their American Freedoms & Liberties," including a candlelight vigil for the "J6 Patriots" still in prison, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein posted on Twitter.

A Cobb County GOP committee is holding a Jan. 6 program and candlelight vigil for the “J6 patriots” in the violent mob that overran the Capitol. The Cobb GOP was once the heart of the mainstream GOP in Georgia, but Trump’s rise has pulled the local party to the far right. #gapol pic.twitter.com/Wq35ZVRFhB
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) January 2, 2022

The event will include watching a livestream of Trump's press conference from Mar-a-Lago, listening to various speakers like Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs and concluding with the vigil by the Cobb GOP prayer group.

"It will truly be something to see which — if any — GOP members of the Cobb Delegation participate in this homage to treason," Democratic state Rep. Teri Anulewicz, who represents part of Cobb County, said in criticism of the event on Twitter.

It will truly be something to see which — if any — GOP members of the Cobb Delegation participate in this homage to treason.
— Teri Anulewicz (@tanulewicz) January 2, 2022

Grubbs said in a statement that the event is to acknowledge the Americans who lost their lives during the riot and "pray for those who have been denied justice."

At least 30 of those accused of breaching the Capitol are still being held in a Washington, D.C. jail without bond while they wait for court dates for some of the more serious crimes from that day.

Grubbs said many of the rioters are "being denied their Sixth Amendment right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you."

"To those who have cast a quick judgment concerning this event, under no uncertain terms are we condoning any form of violence nor the glorification of what happened at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. This miscarriage of justice should concern ALL AMERICANS," Grubbs said. "It's unfortunate that so many have issues with prayer. Everyone should be concerned when our Constitutional rights are being abused."

Just a few hours before Cobb GOP's Jan. 6 program is the funeral for the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican who represented Cobb in the Legislature, who died Dec. 19.

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• Trump Mob Attacks Capitol; 4 Deaths; 69 Arrests; FBI Seeks Tips