Most nights at 9 p.m., defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol flicker the lights in their D.C. jail cells to signal to supporters outside that it’s time to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” together. The recital has become a sacred ritual for a subset of Donald Trump’s movement devoted to heroizing the accused rioters.
The former president is now embracing their cause, lending his voice to a recording of the “J6 Prison Choir” and playing it to start the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign. The song, “Justice for All,” features Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance mixed with a rendition of the national anthem.
“Our people love those people,” Trump went on to say at the rally, speaking of those who were jailed. “What’s happening in that prison, it’s a hellhole. ... These are people that shouldn’t have been there.”
The nightly singing inside the jail was captured in a video that Trump allies have shared online in the past two months. The D.C. Department of Corrections confirmed that the video was taken in one of the jail’s housing units. The agency is now investigating. Spokeswoman Sylvia Lane declined to elaborate on the nature of the probe but said that “any social media use or video-sharing platforms is prohibited” for detainees.
Using physical characteristics and interviews with family members, supporters and attorneys, The Washington Post identified five of the roughly 15 men who are featured in the video. Four of them were charged with...
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