Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) slammed fellow GOPer Mo Brooks as “evil” on Thursday due to a statement Brooks released following an hours-long standoff with a “terrorist” near the US Capitol.
Brooks (R-AL.) said he sympathized with “anger directed at dictatorial Socialism” after the suspect threatened to blow up the Library of Congress. Luckily, he did not have any explosives.
Floyd Ray Roseberry — a 49-year-old from Grover, NC — ranted at President Biden in a livestream during the standoff. He told Biden the deaths of Afghan people “are on your hands” and also declared that “the South’s coming.”
Shortly before Roseberry surrendered to police following a five-hour standoff, Brooks (R-Ala.) tweeted out a statement that he was monitoring the situation from his home in Alabama.
“Sadly, violence and threats of violence targeting America’s political institutions are far too common,” Brooks said. “Although this terrorist’s motivation is not yet publicly known, and generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.
“The way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 elections,” Brooks concluded. “I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do that more so than ever before. Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk.”
Kinzinger retweeted the Brooks statement from his personal account and attached the one-word message: “Evil.”
“The GOP has a decision to make,” Kinzinger added in a subsequent tweet. “Are we going to be the party that keeps stoking sympathy for domestic terrorists and pushes out truth, or finally take a stand for truth. I’ve made my decision, so has Mo. Now it’s up to GOP conference leadership to make theirs.”
Kinzinger, who will not seek reelection to the House in 2022, is one of two Republicans — along with Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to a select committee investigating the deadly riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6.
Brooks, who is seeking the GOP nomination to run for Senate from Alabama next year, has been accused in a lawsuit by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) of inciting the riot by giving a fiery speech at the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally that precipitated the violence.
“Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” Brooks told the crowd at one point.
Last month, the Justice Department said it would not support Brooks’ claim that he was acting in his official capacity as a member of Congress when he spoke at the rally. The DOJ said the lawmaker was engaging in “campaign activity, and it is no part of the business of the United States to pick sides among candidates in federal elections.”
Police who searched Roseberry’s truck Thursday said that they did not find a bomb, but did collect possible bomb-making materials.
Investigators had spoken with the man’s family and learned that his mother had recently died, Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said.
“There were other issues he was dealing with,” the chief said, without providing specific details.
The standoff took place while Congress was on its August recess, meaning there were far fewer lawmakers and staffers on Capitol Hill than usual.
With Post wires