Some currently unnamed Republican members of Congress give a “reconnaissance tour” of the Capitol to Trump supporters ahead of the attack the following day.
Update 1: Lauren Boebert is identified by Rep. Steve Cohen on CNN on January 18.
Update 2: A video (last link below) shows Stop The Steal organizer Ali Alexander, InfoWars host Alex Jones, America First host Nick Fuentes, and possible members of the Proud Boys inside the Capitol on January 5. In the video, Alexander says “We’re going to stop the certification.” When someone asks how they’ll do stop the certification, Jones responds “Let’s talk about it later.”
Update 3: Rep. Barry Loudermilk was caught on camera giving a Capitol tour to Trump supporters.
Everything below was written before these updates.
While no one has been identified by name, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney later describes at least one of his colleagues to MSNBC. The description almost perfectly matches newly elected House member Lauren Boebert.
Some of our new colleagues, the same ones, of course, who believe in conspiracy theories and who want to carry guns into the House chamber, who today, today, have been yelling at Capitol Police, shoving them. Who a week ago were risking their lives to save ours. This conduct is beyond the pale, and it extends to some of this interaction with the very people who attacked the Capitol.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney
Rep. Mikie Sherrill gives a similar account.
According to Maloney, another lawmaker objects to the tour as it is happening but is told that the visitors are with a member of Congress, which in past years “has been assumed to be safe.”
Lauren Boebert is a QAnon supporter from Colorado. The morning of the Capitol attack, she tweets “Today is 1776,” a common GOP callback to the American Revolutionary War. During the attack, she uses Twitter to broadcast Nancy Pelosi’s location after lawmakers are told not to use social media.
The following week, she refuses to let her bag be searched after she sets off a newly installed metal detector. This is followed by multiple Republicans pushing through a small space between doors and metal detectors to protest the new security protocol.
Sources
https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2021/01/i-can-confirm-that-democrat-says-gop-member-of-congress-gave-capitol-tour-to-insurrectionists-day-before-attack/
https://coloradosun.com/2021/01/14/lauren-boebert-first-week-in-congress/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/01/who-is-lauren-boebert-republican-primary-qanon-trump
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/12/mikie-sherrill-pro-trump-rioters-got-tour-congress-members/6648386002/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/its-1776-nevada-county-gop-peddles-claim-donald-trump-will-remain-president/ar-BB1cEKPY
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/13/rep-lauren-boebert-leads-gop-standoff-with-capitol-police-over-metal-detectors-on-house-floor/
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/politics/steve-cohen-lauren-boebert-capitol-tours/index.html
https://twitter.com/VelvetBlade/status/1350324785717387264?s=20
Photo: Gage Skidmore
