'What planet' are they on? Judge blasts Republicans for downplaying
attack on U.S. Capitol
Send a link to a friend
[June 24, 2021]
By Jan Wolfe
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on
Wednesday harshly criticized Republican lawmakers for downplaying the
deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, questioning "what planet" they
are living on.
Hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the
Capitol that day in a failed attempt to stop Congress from certifying
Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory. The violence left
five dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and more than 480 people
have been arrested on charges linked to the attack.
"I'm especially troubled by the accounts of some members of Congress
that Jan. 6 was just a day of tourists walking through the Capitol,"
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said during a court hearing in
Washington. "I don't know what planet these people are on."
Lamberth, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan - one of
the heroes of the Republican Party - said millions of people saw what he
called a "disgrace" to the country.
"The attempt by some congressmen to rewrite history and say this was all
just tourists walking through the Capitol is just utter nonsense,"
Lamberth said.
"It was not an accident that it turned violent," he said of the Capitol
attack. "It was intended to draw to a halt the very functioning of our
government."
Lamberth did not name any particular legislator during his remarks, but
Republican Representative Andrew Clyde last month likened the attack to
a "normal tourist visit" during a congressional hearing.
"Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked
through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying
between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures," Clyde
said. "If you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the
6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit."
[to top of second column]
|
A mob of protestors climb through a window they broke as they storm
the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021.
REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
Clyde did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on Wednesday. Other Republican lawmakers have also
downplayed the violence.
Photos from Jan. 6 showed Clyde rushing toward the door of the House
of Representatives while guards with guns drawn held off rioters
trying to break into the chamber.
Lamberth made his remarks during a sentencing hearing for Anna
Morgan-Lloyd, 49, who was the first of about 500 people charged for
participating in the Capitol siege to receive punishment.
Morgan-Lloyd, of Bloomfield, Indiana, agreed to plead guilty to a
single charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol
building.
Lamberth sentenced her to three years of probation.
"I went there to support and show support for President Trump, and
I’m ashamed that it became a savage display of violence that day,"
Morgan-Lloyd said during the court hearing.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|