This is how Trump supporters defend their lies 2:56
(CNN) -
Hundreds of law enforcement officers have mobilized across Washington as thousands of Donald Trump supporters refuse to accept the president's electoral defeat.
That is why they have flocked to the country's capital to protest when Congress meets this Wednesday afternoon, to put the final seal on the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
As part of their preparations, the police posted signs around the district warning of the illegality of possession of weapons during the protests.
This as Trump tweeted his support for the protesters, saying, "Our country has had enough, they won't take it anymore!"
and "We heard you (and love you) from the Oval Office."
Authorities, a combination that includes local police, the National Guard and uniformed federal agents, had already arrested several people before the demonstrations.
Among them the leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that Trump addressed directly during a fall 2020 debate, to whom he said "back off and wait."
Proud Boys leader Henry Tarrio, who goes by the name Enrique Tarrio, was released from police custody Tuesday on charges related to a protest last month and was ordered by a local judge to stay out of Washington while awaiting trial, including during the protests this week.
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Pro-Trump protesters gather in Washington
Protesters dressed in pro-Trump attire gathered across the city on Tuesday, while others posted photos on social media from their trip to Wednesday's rally.
On Tuesday, several protesters led the crowd with chants of "four more years," even as Trump has nearly exhausted legal avenues to turn the tide against Biden.
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One after another, the protest leaders made claims that the election was stolen, imploring people to "fight" for victory.
Trump's defeat has been reaffirmed by the courts and state election officials dozens of times since the election.
Among the leaders of Tuesday's protests were Trump's adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress, obstructing and threatening a witness.
Stone was later pardoned by the president.
Trump commutes sentence of Roger Stone 2:20
"We don't trust the media crystal ball" on the election results and the completion of the Electoral College count by Congress on Wednesday, said Dustin Stockton, one of the march's organizers.
But, he said, "it is clear that Wednesday will be historic."
"(Trump) still has cards to play that he hasn't played," Stockton said.
"We will not stop fighting until the president does."
Several demonstrations are planned on Wednesday, including one in the morning in which Trump has said he will speak.
Gun-free zones in Washington
In the days leading up to the march scheduled for Wednesday, police put up signs declaring the areas where they expect protesters to be gun-free zones between Monday and Thursday.
"ALL firearms are prohibited within 1,000 feet (300 meters) of this sign," read the posters attached to lamp posts.
Sean Hickman, a spokesman for the Washington Police Department, declined to comment on the police personnel for the demonstrations or whether they would attempt to keep Trump supporters separate from the counter-protesters.
It's also unclear how aggressive the police will be in enforcing the district's gun laws.
"As with any large demonstration, we will continue to monitor and evaluate each activity, and plan accordingly with our local and federal law enforcement partners," Hickman said.
In the summer, federal agencies created confusion during the protests by sending officers to rallies in vehicles without insignia and without agency names or other identifiers on their uniforms.
Congress passed a law requiring federal agents to wear a unique identifier on their clothing while working on protests.
A Tuesday letter from Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to the Department of Justice regarding the upcoming protests pointed to problems police had encountered when armed agents working for federal agencies attended protests without identification over the summer, including in Lafayette Park. .
This "caused confusion among residents and visitors and could become a threat to national security without the ability for the MPD [Washington Police] and the Federal Police to decipher the armed groups," Bowser wrote.
Unidentifiable armed federal agents dressed in camouflage arrested protesters in Portland, Oregon, during the summer and took them away in vehicles without identification.
Later, federal officials identified them as agents of the US Customs and Border Protection, but they were not wearing dog tags or agency identifiers.
Alarm for videos of federal agents operating in Portland 2:52
The law enforcement agencies and the security of the demonstrations
Around the same time, Trump called anti-racism protesters in the country "terrorists" and vowed to "increase" paramilitary-style units in other cities.
Outrage over the tactics led Congress to pass the law requiring identification marks on federal agents working on protests.
US Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, also wrote to federal officials Monday reminding them of this new law.
"Members of the armed forces and federal law enforcement personnel responding to civil unrest must now visibly display their name or an individual identifier, and the name of the armed force or federal entity that employs them," he wrote.
The US Bureau of Prisons sent 100 "specially trained officers" to the Department of Justice in Washington to supplement the security of the Department's facilities, Justin Long, a spokesman for that agency, said Tuesday.
They will function as a "reserve" for other security teams in the Department of Justice.
Mark Morgan, the top official serving as the US Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said Tuesday that the agency was not asked to deploy agents.
But he added that he has a "modest and quick reaction force that will be on standby only in case our assistance is requested."
Ken Cuccinelli, the senior official serving as the Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security, said the agency is "prepared to increase staff as needed."
The Secret Service is at the heart of many of these things.
They have a long history… And we are coordinating, not just Service coordination, but to the extent that the Federal Protective Service, which is protecting literally dozens of locations around the city, has some need for backup, we are prepared to that, ”Cuccinelli said.
“Obviously, we hope that all these different protests will unfold peacefully, but we are prepared to increase staff, as necessary, where necessary throughout the district in coordination with the Department of Justice and local authorities, too, they are so intimately involved. ».
Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller on Monday approved a request from the District of Columbia to deploy a limited number of National Guard forces to Washington to support the Metropolitan Police Department and the Fire Department.
The guards will not be armed and will mostly help with traffic control.
The Proud Boys
Who are the Proud Boys and in which countries do they exist?
2:08
The rallies are expected to feature members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group often seen in black and yellow at Trump rallies, and who sometimes engage in street fights with far-left protesters.
The group's affiliates have also shown apparent ties to Stone, including in his criminal trial, in late 2019. This comes about a month after a Proud Boys protest ended with stabbings and the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner. taken from a church.
Tarrio was arrested Monday and charged in connection with the burning of the banner and his release from police custody was ordered Tuesday.
The judge ordered him to stay out of the District of Columbia, except for his own court appearances until further notice, according to court records.
Tarrio had two high-capacity gun magazines when police arrested him, according to authorities, and he was also charged with possession of a high-capacity loading device.
Tarrio did not return calls or texts from CNN on Monday.
He took responsibility for burning the banner last month, writing in a post on the social media website Parler that 'against the wishes of my lawyer, I am here today to admit that I am the person responsible for the burning of this sign".
He also posted on social media that members of the Proud Boys would be "incognito" for this week's protests.
The protesters on Tuesday chanted "Enrique" in support of Tarrio.
Some leaders also launched tirades against face masks, one of them saying that the masks used to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus are a means of "control" for officials who "try to take away your freedom."
The vast majority of the several hundred people at Freedom Plaza did not wear masks during the afternoon and evening.
Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys group lists among its core principles the belief in "closed borders" and the goal of "re-establishing a spirit of Western chauvinism."
In statements online, he is claimed to have used violence only in self-defense.
Its members are often seen carrying firearms and bats and wearing protective gear.
The group's ideology has been labeled "misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration" by the Anti-Defamation League.
- CNN's Christina Carrega, Evan Perez, Katelyn Polantz, Geneva Sands, Brian Todd and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Donald Trump 2020 United States elections