The event will feature a speech by the founder of “Women for America First,” the group that secured permits for the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the deadly riot. And the Cobb County event will begin with a livestreamed Donald Trump speech, in which the former president is expected to double down on his lies about winning the 2020 election.

The local Republican party’s event is among more than a dozen Jan. 6 anniversary events that valorize the Capitol attackers as “patriots,” “political prisoners,” or “martyrs.”

“It sends the wrong message,” Jason Shepherd, the former chair of the Cobb County GOP told The Daily Beast. “It goes to the heart of what the Republican party’s having to deal with, and that is: do we believe in the core values of the party, the principles of the party that are in our platform, or are we simply following one person?”…

Upcoming anniversary events are both “a celebration and a disavowal at the same time,” Hughes said. “These recognitions that come from the far right are going to be contradictory, and they’re going to be incoherent in some cases, but that’s not an impediment to the project. It’s actually central to the project.