Members of the pro-Trump group are outside the Minnesota State Capitol building on Saturday, January 16, 2021, while the police stand guard at a distance. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minnesota. (FOX 9) – A group that met at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Saturday was met with a great show of strength by public security agencies amid security concerns across the country.
Enforcement of the extra law has not stopped the small group of pro-Trump supporters from what has become a weekly gathering of speeches and prayers, dubbed the “Freedom Party”.
Visible increase in security in Minnesota’s capital with pro-Trump group rallies on Saturday
Enforcement of the extra law has not stopped the small group of pro-Trump supporters from what has become a weekly gathering of speeches and prayers, dubbed Freedom Fest.
“We’ve been getting a lot of negative press lately,” said Hold the Line organizer Becky Strohmeier. “The governor is trying to fit us into a false narrative that we are violent.”
Strohmeier insists he did not expect a large crowd on Saturday and few came. Some were visibly armed, while others carried signs that said “Stop the Theft”.
“I just wanted to go out and challenge people to tell me how the election I participated in was stolen,” said Steve Brandt of Minneapolis.
Brandt, who said he was an electoral judge in Minneapolis, said that was enough.
“And people question the process in which you work, you feel the need to defend democracy, to say ‘no, this is wrong’,” he explained. “This election was not stolen.”
After the recent and violent attack on the United States Capitol, and with the days of Joe Biden’s inauguration away, security is increased in state houses and federal buildings across the country.
A counter-protester, who released a clown song from a speaker in Saint Paul on Saturday, was quickly escorted by the state patrol.
Strohmeier, who also organized a Sunday church-style outdoor event for the capitol grounds, isn’t sure what the future holds for the movement further.
“It is very difficult to know what we are going to do next weekend,” she said. “It depends on what happens this week. We are not going to stop being quiet all of a sudden.”
ST PAUL, MN – JANUARY 16: A Conservation Officer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources forms a perimeter before a protest scheduled outside the Capitol building on January 16, 2021 in St Paul, Minnesota. Supporters of President Trump gat
Security restrictions in place around the state capitol complex
The DPS says that some of the security measures will be visible to the public, but not all. People should wait to see State Patrol troops, Conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources and National Guard soldiers patrolling the Capitol. The fence that was placed around the Capitol during the summer bustle remains in place.
Minnesota National Guard adjutant General Shawn Manke said on Friday that just over 100 military police officers will be on the state capitol initially, but the response can be “scaled” based on the level of threat. There will also be traffic restrictions around the Capitol. Pedestrian traffic will be allowed, but only employees of state agencies, contractors, deliveries and those with official state business will be able to drive in the restricted area.
The Minnesota Department of Public Security is asking people who do not have an activity or business planned on Capitol to consider a visit at another time, according to a press release.