Washington, D.C.– The flickering sound from the prison windows drew cheers from the small crowd waiting outside.

The signal has become a near-nightly tradition at the Central Detention Facility in Washington. As the sunlight began to fade, the detainees inside tried to make the lights tremble as a signal to their supporters.

But the move sparked particular enthusiasm among the roughly two dozen people who gathered on the sidewalk Sunday despite frigid temperatures.

It was the night before the fourth anniversary of January 6, 2021, when thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol. extraordinary attempt Overturning Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat.

Over the past nearly 900 days, a small group of people have come together to show support for those convicted in the riots, some of whom are being held in a Washington, D.C., detention center.

Still, sentiment among insiders remains high, in large part due to Trump’s victory in November’s election. The president-elect bounced back from his 2020 defeat in an unprecedented reversal of political fortunes.

His second term begins in two weeks. As part of his agenda, Trump promised to pardon those convicted of the Capitol attack four years ago.

“The energy here today is absolutely incredible,” Dominic Box, who was convicted of violent entry and disorderly conduct, said by phone from jail.

His speech was relayed by supporters outside, who held their cellphones into microphones.

Birx expressed hope that Trump will soon be inaugurated. “We expect those pardons to be available by the end of the week,” he said.

“A lot of people, myself included, started packing up our stuff,” he added. “Each of us will walk out of these doors for the last time.”

At least 1,583 people According to the U.S. Department of Justice, charges have been filed in connection with the incident on January 6, 2021.

About 608 of them were charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement officers. That includes 174 people charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

“Political hostages” or rebellion?

In many ways, Pardon the convicted Events related to January 6 will be a crowning achievement for Trump.

The Republican leader has long claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him through widespread voter fraud.

Trump also faces legal jeopardy for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He is accused in a state case in Georgia and a federal case in Washington, D.C., of leading a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. In light of his re-election, the D.C. case has been dismissed.

But Trump dismissed the criminal charges as a “witch hunt.” He drew an analogy to his own situation, saying the Jan. 6 sentencing of defendants — especially nonviolent offenders — was unfair.

He has repeatedly referred to the defendants as “political prisoners” and “hostages” and said his administration would begin reviewing their cases “in the first hour” of his second term.

Trump’s statement highlights the differing narratives that emerged around January 6.

Trump’s supporters largely dismissed the riot as a simple protest, while Democrats highlighted the violence of the attack, which came as lawmakers sought to certify the results of the 2020 vote. occasion.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden once again described the January 6 attack as a “real threat to democracy.”

In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Biden condemned Trump’s attempts to reframe the attack on the U.S. Capitol as an act of patriotism.

“Relentless efforts are being made to rewrite — or even erase — the history of that day,” Biden wrote. “Explain it as a protest that just got out of hand. That’s not what happened.”

Some right-wing politicians and institutions have similarly condemned efforts to downplay the Jan. 6 attack.

For example, the Rule of Law Institute, founded by conservative lawyers and judges, argued that the extraordinary nature of the storming of the U.S. Capitol warranted severe punishment.

“(Trump’s) statement promising to pardon the rioters made a mockery of the rule of law, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms,” ​​the group said.

“I wish he would let me commute”

But to the protesters who gathered outside the Washington detention center, there was no question that the prosecution was fraught with injustice.

Many accused law enforcement of trying to entrap the Jan. 6 rioters. Some also believe that the violence of a few was used to discredit everyone present.

The authorities have repeatedly refute these claims.

During the broadcast call, Birx reiterated his oft-repeated assertion that no Capitol Police officers died as a direct result of the attack.

However, Capitol Police insist that five deaths were related to the riot: one officer, Brian Sicknick, was assaulted and died a day later after suffering two strokes, and four others died next He committed suicide within a few months.

Nonetheless, Box defined the actions of January 6 as an act of free speech, protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“In addition to engaging in First Amendment-protected activities, appeasing our grievances and listening to our concerns about the world, the defendants on January 6th, whether incarcerated, on the FBI list, or free today, Nothing else was done. The 2020 election was stolen,” Box said.

Brandon Fellows, 30, was also charged in the Jan. 6 incident. He spent nearly three years in jail in Washington, D.C., after prosecutors presented evidence that he entered the U.S. Capitol through a broken window and smoked marijuana in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office.

He was later charged with contempt of court for his outburst during court proceedings.

But Fellows has been released on probation, which limits his movement to 80 kilometers (50 miles) around Washington, DC. He attended Sunday’s protest outside a Washington, D.C., detention center wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, a sign of his continued support for Trump.

“I just wish (Trump) would let me commute so I could leave and start my life,” Fellowes said, adding that he hopes to restart the tree and chimney business he ran before his arrest.

‘Donald Trump’s extension’

The nightly vigil was first started by Ashli ​​Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft. On January 6, Ashli ​​Babbitt was shot and killed by Capitol Police while trying to climb through a broken window.

Nicole Reffitt has been one of the main organizers ever since. Her husband, Guy Reffit, was the first defendant of 2022 to be convicted on January 6. She has since moved from Texas to Washington, D.C., to help other defendants with their legal proceedings.

“It’s a very scary feeling, very intimidating, when the US government exerts absolute power over you or someone you love,” she told Al Jazeera.

Guy Reffit was found guilty of civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding and remaining in a restricted building with a firearm.

“I just want to see (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi hit her head on every damn staircase,” Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percent militia, said in a Jan. 6 video. He was Sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.

Nicole Reffitt hopes a reprieve from Trump is imminent, insisting politics distorted justice in her husband’s case.

She and her fellow protesters created an “advent calendar” to mark the days until Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

“I’ve seen half-truths and exaggerations used as legal facts, with a Washington jury viewing my husband as an extension of Donald Trump,” Reffitt said. “This is not the way justice should be served in America.”