Capitol Police Say They’re Better Prepped For J6 Rally + 28% Beer

Good morning! It’s Saturday, Sept. 18, the last weekend of summer. It’s a little too early for fall leaf peering, but check out the calendar of events on your local Patch for things to do around town. Here are some of the stories we’re following:

• A motorcade carrying the body of one of the U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan heads to Arlington National Cemetery.
• A teen says what she hopes will be record-breaking solo flight around the world will inspire more girls to aviation and STEM careers.
• Gabby Petito’s father and her boyfriend’s sister give emotional interviews in the missing persons case.
• A brewer is releasing a beer too strong to be legal in some places.

Let’s start with Saturday’s “Justice for J6” rally in Washington, D.C. — an attempt, organizer Matt Braynard says, to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The rally is in support of the rioters, hundreds of whom have been arrested.

By the way, 49 percent of Americans believe the arrest of pro-Trump rioters was unconstitutional, according to an Annenberg Public Policy Center Constitution Day survey. Braynard is among them.

Braynard is a former GOP analyst who started the group Look Ahead America, which lost its tax-exempt status because he was unable to raise money. The J6 rally is an effort to relaunch it, and to rebrand those charged in the deadly attack as “political prisoners.” » Organizer Of J6 Rally Wants To Rewrite Jan. 6 History, via Across America Patch

Capitol Police say they’re better prepared for violence than they were in early January when Donald Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol in an attempt to interrupt the certification of the 2020 election. The perimeter fencing is back at the U.S. Capitol, and other security measures have been taken.

• Patch’s Mark Hand will be reporting from the rally. You can follow his coverage Saturday on Washington, D.C., Patch.

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Taps

Mourning continues across America for the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26 attack at the airport in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul. This week, northern Virginia military personnel and residents lined the streets, standing at attention and offering a salute as a motorcade carrying the body of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss passed by.

The 23-year-old fallen soldier from Corryton, Tennessee, was honored in a similar way in eastern Tennessee on Sept. 9. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday. » See Photos: Solider Killed In Afghanistan Honored, via Vienna, Virginia, Patch.

Quotable

“Whatever you can do to make sure my daughter comes home, I'm asking for that help.”

— Joe Petito, whose daughter Gabby Petito hasn’t been seen or heard from since Aug. 24 and was reported missing by her family on Sept. 11, via Sarasota, Florida, Patch

"I wish I could talk to him. ... I wish I had information where I would give more.”

— Cassie Laundrie, sister of Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito’s boyfriend and the last known person to see her, via Patchogue, New York, Patch

Why She Flies

Zara Rutherford is a modern-day Amelia Earhart, the first woman — and the second person ever — to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Rutherford, 19, aims to be the youngest woman to fly around the world solo in a single-engine aircraft.

She stopped in Palo Alto, California, where she told Patch her aim is to inspire girls to pursue careers in aviation and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. “Growing up, I didn’t see many other women in aviation and STEM, and that was quite discouraging for me,” she said. “I couldn’t relate to my female friends about the things I really loved to do.” » Teen Making Record-Breaking Flight Around The World Explains Why, via Palo Alto, California, Patch

Today In History

The first cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol was laid by Goerge Washington on Sept. 18, 1793.

Around ‘The Patch’

On Beer’ll Do Ya: At 28 percent alcohol content, Samuel Adams’ Utopias beer is illegal in 15 states, via Boston Patch.

More Than A Haircut: A Michigan man is suing his daughter’s school district for $1 million for racial discrimination after she received an unwanted haircut, via Detroit Patch.

Lions, Tigers And COVID-19: Six African lions, a Sumatran tiger and two Amur tigers at the National Zoo are being treated for presumptive COVID-19, via Washington, D.C., Patch.

Moderna Works Best, Study Says: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found the Moderna shot is the most effective of three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States in preventing hospitalization, via Across America Patch.

House Porn: The Beverly Hills mansion made famous by Beyonce, "The Godfather" and the Kennedys sold for $63 million after multiple price drops, via Beverly Hills, California, Patch.

Your Good News Fix: A collection of nine uplifting and entertaining stories from Patch editors, via Across America Patch.

Quiz Yourself On U.S. Citizenship Test: Friday was Constitution Day. In case you forgot to throw a party, test your civics knowledge by taking the same test required for citizenship, via Across America Patch.

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