A Texas-based group is raising money to help January 6, 2021, defendants under prosecution from the federal government.
American Patriot Relief raised $64,000 from January to September 2023, according to their website. The group, according to co-founder Terry Anderson, helps defendants pay for plane tickets to court hearings and essential bills if their family struggles financially.
“What we want to do is that anyone who has come under the boot of the federal government, that needs help with that, we want to be there,” Anderson, a Texas native, told The Dallas Express.
More than 700 people have pleaded guilty to charges related to the January 6, 2021, protests that led to some participants trespassing into the Capitol building, according to The Associated Press.
Anderson said that many Americans facing these charges have gone bankrupt but are forced to fly to Washington, D.C., for court hearings. This pressure, he said, has also been an emotional struggle. His group offers a 24/7 phone line for support, 1-833-SAVEDJ6 (1-833-728-3356), and hosts weekly Zoom prayer meetings to help with the mental toil many are experiencing.
“It gives them hope: ‘Hey, there is somebody there that cares about me, someone that I can talk to. There’s a community around me,’” Anderson told The Dallas Express.
Anderson faces legal issues of his own against the federal government unrelated to January 6. He was arrested on federal gun charges after he went to the southern border with the intention of curbing unlawful crossings. The Biden administration, he said, is working to imprison its political enemies regardless of legality.
“Not only are they coming after people for their involvement in January 6, they’re coming after people for speaking out a school board meetings, for speaking out at city council meetings, for being a Christian, for speaking out at your church, for standing up against transgenderism in your school,” Anderson told DX.
The Department of Justice and the FBI have faced many recent allegations of overreach in regard to their prosecution of January 6 participants, as reported by The Dallas Express.