The House select committee investigating the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, released evidence Wednesday showcasing how at least one individual who took part in a Republican congressman’s tour of the building on the day prior to the attack was also part of the violent mob of Trump loyalists who marched to the Capitol.
The evidence seems to directly contradict Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s (R-Georgia) claims. Who said it last month?His tour group included no members of January 6 mob violence.
This also supports the notions of the committee that some of the Republicans who took tours of Capitol on January 5 could have used these tours to monitor the building. The committee noted that the Capitol complex was closed to the public that day, and the tour included “areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists.”
The new evidence was shared by the January 6 committee on TwitterBut also in a letterLoudermilk was referred to by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, who is also the chairman of the committee. In the letter, Thompson told Loudermilk that he “had hoped to show [him] the video evidence” in a meeting with the committee, which they had requested back in May.
“Since you have thus far declined, the Select Committee provides the video in question for your review,” Thompson said.
None of the evidence, which includes surveillance photographs taken inside the Capitol Building of an unnamed male and video footage he took the day after, shows the man in the Capitol as the violence unfolded. However, it is heavily implied that the man did indeed take part in the day’s events. The evidence presented by the committee refutes any suggestion that the man was not part the mob that attacked Capitol.
In the video, the man says he is already “basically at the Capitol” as he continues to approach it. The recording also shows him making threats against Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.California), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Representatives Alexandria OcasioCortez and Jerry Nadler.
“There’s no escape,” the man says, evidently directing his comments toward those lawmakers, as he approaches the Capitol building.
Surveillance footage shows Loudermilk leading a tour to areas within the House Office Buildings as well as to the entrances of Capitol tunnels.
Individuals on the tour photographed/recorded areas not typically of interest to tourists: hallways, staircases and security checkpoints. pic.twitter.com/Rjhf2BTdbc
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 15, 2022
“We’re coming to take you out. We’ll pull you out by your hairs,” the man says in his recordings. “How about that Pelosi? You might as well make another. [hair] appointment. When I get done with you, you’re going to need a shine up on top of that bald head.”
The video also shows the man recording another individual, showing off a flagpole with a sharpened end, saying it’s for “someone special.”
The January 6 committee produced a video that shows footage of the same man taking photos around the Capitol Building during Loudermilk’s tour.
The photos that the man and others took during the tour Thompson noted in his letter to the Georgia Republican, included areas of the building “not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints.”
Loudermilk has made a change in his life He spoke out about the tour he gave on several occasions the day before the Capitol attack. He initially denied that he had given any tour. Loudermilk issued a press statement in May, denying that any of his tour participants were part of the Trump loyalist mob that attacked the Capitol. He also claimed that the tour was just a family who wanted to learn more about the building.
Loudermilk’s claims are not supported by the video evidence. Furthermore, even if the individual shown in the January 6 committee’s video did not personally utilize the images he took on that tour, it’s possible that he shared the pictures from that day with others taking part in the Capitol attack.
Any tour that was given on January 5 – the day before the riot by the deniers of the election results – raises suspicion, as the Capitol was closed off to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The release of the committee’s video has led to several members of Congress, including those threatened by the unnamed man in the video, to criticize Loudermilk’s refusal to speak about the tour.
“On Jan 5th the Capitol was closed to the public,” Ocasio-Cortez reminded her followers on Twitter. “But surveillance video shows @RepLoudermilk bringing in an insurrectionist who was photographing member staircases + exits.”
“[That person] stormed the Capitol the next day looking for us w/ those references,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “@RepLoudermilk, care to comment?”
