More than 30 men – "J6ers," they're called – remain incarcerated without bond at a detention facility in Washington, DC, that has come to be known as the "DC Gitmo." They are charged with various crimes related to their presence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
One of those men who remain locked up is James McGrew, a Marine veteran. During an interview with American Family Radio host Sandy Rios, McGrew said he went to the Capitol that day simply to support President Donald Trump.
"There were a lot of claims of election fraud and other things and we wanted to show up and just let our voices be heard," he shared. "We wanted to do like Mr. Trump said and cheer our congressmen and senators on in making the right choice on that day to stand up for the people and their voices."
Robert Gieswein told Rios he went to DC to protect fellow Trump supporters.
"The election of 2020 was completely rigged if not fully stolen – so, I went in anticipation of Antifa [and BLM] having a big presence. That's the reason why I was wearing protective gear like a bulletproof vest and those types of things, even though the government wants to say I was there to overthrow [the government] or whatever they had in their mind. I was there to protect innocent Trump supporters from Antifa and BLM."
Texan Shane Jenkins says he went to the Capitol on January 6 because he had genuine concerns about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
"Elections are … the bedrock of what our nation is built on, really any nation is built on," Jenkins stated. "If we're not willing to make sure that our vote counts, [then] we're just waiting on the installment of the next dictator or the next tyrant that the people who are really in power want to put in place. So, really that was ultimately what led me there."
About those charges …
Jenkins – who is facing several charges, including assault on a federal officer, destruction of federal property, and civil disorder – says he saw one police officer brutally beat a woman, who later died. "She was struck in the head four times while she lay unconscious on the ground by a police officer with a stick," he told Rios.
And McGrew addressed the charge against him: assault of a police officer with a deadly weapon:
"I tossed this flag pole, not knowing that it was in the direction of officers. And there's no victim, there's no victim statement. The flag pole didn't land in a manner that would have been any type of danger to officers."
Gieswein says as soon as he learned about the warrant for his arrest, he turned himself in on January 18, 2021 – and has been incarcerated ever since.
"In my personal opinion, with the agitators on the ground level and with the cops there was some kind of coordination with the DOJ to where January 6 was completely set up to entice Trump supporters to act in a way that they wouldn't normally act," he alleges. "Personally, I felt as though my life and the lives of other people there were in danger."
And Gieswein issued this warning to conservatives: "The DOJ and the FBI are completely rogue. They're going to entrap anybody and everybody that they can who is a conservative because this is their attempt to completely wipeout conservatives."
What about bail?
According to McGrew, the only way to get bail is to denounce Donald Trump and proclaim there was no election fraud in 2020.
"I've only seen maybe two people come through here and actually get bail – and those two people were forced to denounce Trump say [there was] no election fraud," he lamented. "They've been forced to pretty much do everything that they didn't believe in just to get that bail."
Jenkins says the truth will work its way to the top. "Unfortunately, it's taken 15 months to this point – and as we saw in the Michigan kidnapping plot, it took them 18 months to be acquitted and the other two to get a hung jury. [But] unfortunately, we're guilty until proven innocent."
Jenkins says in the meantime he is trusting in the Lord to carry out His plan during this confinement.
