Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a new member of the progressive “squad,” is introducing legislation to investigate whether alleged White nationalism in the U.S. Capitol Police factored into the deadly riot at the Capitol Wednesday.
Bowman, D-N.Y., is authoring the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act, or COUP Act, to establish a commission to investigate the attack and potential ties between White supremacists and Capitol Police.
“We have to stare White nationalism in the face,” Bowman said Saturday at a press conference in New York to discuss the fallout of the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote.
“We have to deal with it directly, not only through law enforcement, but by recognizing that White nationalism lives in every American institution.”
Bowman said his proposed commission would examine how White nationalism might exist within Capitol Police and whether police assisted rioters in entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, forcing lawmakers to evacuate.
“As we experienced Wednesday’s horrible events, my first question was: ‘How the hell were they able to penetrate the Capitol? Why were Capitol Police so undermanned and overwhelmed so quickly?” Bowman said.
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One video on social media appears to show police taking selfies with rioters who stormed into the Capitol. Other videos appear to show police letting pro-Trump rioters move past barricades.
“There’s so many unanswered questions and that’s why we need a thorough investigation,” Bowman said Saturday. “And as we’ve seen on the media, some of the Capitol Police let the rioters into the Capitol.”
Congressman elect Jamaal Bowman poses for a portrait in the 16th congressional district on June 30 in Yonkers, NY. (Michael Noble Jr. for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Bowman’s legislation is the latest effort by the “squad” to hold people accountable for the violence at the Capitol that led to five deaths, including a Capitol Police officer.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was quick to circulate new articles of impeachment against President Trump for inciting the riot. Democrats now are moving forward with a quick impeachment next week on a different version of the articles.
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And Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., has authored a separate resolution to expel GOP members of Congress who incited the violence at the Capitol.
Civil rights groups and lawmakers have been furious over the vastly different approach law enforcement took to Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol breach compared to last summer’s Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.
Biden addressed the disparity on Thursday at a news conference.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that’s true, and it is unacceptable,” Biden said. “Totally unacceptable.”
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Bush, a BLM activist, told MSNBC Wednesday: “We would have been shot had we tried to do all of that.”
In the wake of the riot, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund praised the law enforcement response saying officers “responded valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.”
Sund said in a statement that rioters attacked police with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants and used other weapons against the officers in their efforts to enter the Capitol and cause great harm.
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“The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol was unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C.,” Sund said.
The police “had a robust plan” to handle First Amendment protests, Sund said, but “these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior.”
Under pressure, Sund will resign from his post on Jan. 16.
“The actions of the USCP officers were heroic given the situation they faced,” Sund said.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
