Deputy Jamaal Bowman, a new member of the progressive “squadron”, is introducing legislation to investigate whether the alleged white nationalism in the United States Capitol Police influenced the deadly Capitol turmoil on Wednesday.
Bowman, DN.Y., is the author of the Congressional Unjust Police Oversight Act, or COUP Act, to establish a commission to investigate the attack and possible ties between white supremacists and the Capitol Police.
“We have to face white nationalism head-on,” Bowman said at a news conference in New York on Saturday to discuss the consequences of the violent attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote.
“We have to deal with this directly, not just through law enforcement, but recognizing that white nationalism lives in all American institutions.”
Bowman said his proposed commission would examine how white nationalism can exist within the Capitol Police and whether the police helped protesters to enter the Capitol on January 6, forcing lawmakers to evacuate.
“As we experienced the horrific events of Wednesday, my first question was, ‘How the hell were they able to penetrate the Capitol? Why was the Capitol Police so underpowered and so oppressed so quickly?” Bowman said.
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A social media video appears to show police officers taking selfies with protesters who broke into the Capitol. Other videos appear to show the police letting pro-Trump rioters pass through the barricades.
“There are so many unanswered questions and that is why we need a thorough investigation,” said Bowman on Saturday. “And as we’ve seen in the media, some members of the Capitol Police have allowed rioters to enter the Capitol.”
Elected Congressman Jamaal Bowman poses for a portrait in the 16th constituency on June 30 in Yonkers, NY. (Michael Noble Jr. for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Bowman’s legislation is the “squad “‘s latest effort to hold people accountable for the violence on the Capitol that has led to five deaths, including a Capitol police officer.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Was quick to release new articles of impeachment against President Trump for inciting the riot. Democrats are now moving forward with a quick impeachment next week in a different version of the articles.
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And Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Wrote a separate resolution to expel members of Congress from the Republican Party who incited violence on Capitol Hill.
Civil rights groups and lawmakers were furious at the widely different approach the police took to violating the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday compared to last summer’s protests at the Black Lives Matter (BLM).
Biden addressed the disparity on Thursday at a news conference.
“Nobody can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would not have been treated very, very differently from the crowd of thugs who invaded the Capitol. We all know that this is true, and it is unacceptable”, said Biden. “Totally unacceptable.”
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Bush, a BLM activist, told MSNBC on Wednesday: “We would have been shot if we had tried to do all of this.”
In the wake of the riot, United States Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund praised the police response, saying that police officers “reacted courageously when confronted with thousands of individuals involved in violent actions.”
Sund said in a statement that protesters attacked the police with metal tubes, discharged irritating chemicals and used other weapons against police in their efforts to enter the Capitol and cause major damage.
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“The violent attack on the US Capitol was unlike any I have experienced in my 30 years of law enforcement here in Washington, DC,” said Sund.
The police “had a robust plan” to deal with First Amendment protests, Sund said, but “these mass disturbances were not First Amendment activities; they were turbulent criminal behavior.”
Under pressure, Sund will resign on January 16.
“The actions of the USCP officers were heroic, given the situation they faced,” said Sund.
Fox News’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.