Was there inside aid in the attack on the United States Capitol?

by Brianna Lewis

Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from SanDiego, was shot and killed by Capitol police, several others were wounded, a historical United States building was vandalized and democracy as a whole was questioned all within the span of three hours. On January 6, 2021, the United States experienced a domestic terrorist attack brought on by several extremist groups associated with the far right.The lives of several legislators, Congressional staff as well as the Vice President, Mike Pence, were all put in great danger as they attempted to count and certify the votes that would confirm Joseph R. Biden to be the next president of the United States. Lawmakers inside of the building were told to report to an undisclosed area of the building that was guarded after pro-Trump riotors stormed into Capitol grounds, broke into the offices of high ranking government officials, and where shots were fired in the House Chamber. The speed with which the rioters gained access and maneuvered their way to locations, unfamiliar with even the lawmakers who work in the Capitol left many scratching their heads. As more information came out in real time about the attack, many people wondered: was this an inside job?

Speculations about what really happened on that day had begun spiraling online merely hours after the attack. Democrats within Congress publicly questioned the event that left the nation in a state of shock and immediately issued statements about the suspicious increase in visitors to the Capitol, and the notable group of people who were wearing former president, Donald Trump’s, “Make America Great Again” slogan merchandise the day before the riots. This claim about the unusual uptick was backed up with the statements from members of Congress, trained to spot suspicious activity from their time spent in the military. It should be noted that the Capitol building has been closed to public tours since March of 2020 and the only people allowed in are lawmakers, staff, media and guests with the proper credentials. The rise in visitors wasn't the only unusual event to occur in the days before the attack; reports were made about emergency call buttons that were removed from offices of government officials. Hours before the attack, pipe bombs were found near the Capitol which caused Capitol police to leave the perimeter and investigate the scene. This was seen by some as a type of diversionary ploy to reduce security at the Capitol building. Many government officials also wondered how these civilian rioters knew their way around the building without having any experience navigating the inside and how they knew exactly which offices they needed to break into. According to USA Today, there are no public listing of the specific offices of individual lawmakers. United States Representative, Sara Jacobs, a Democrat from California has been quoted saying, “I’m a member of Congress, I could not tell you with that level of detail how to get around the Capitol” (Salman). Representative Jacobs had been a member of congress for almost a month at this point and didn't know her way around, but rioters who had been in the building for minutes knew exactly where to go.

Two lawmakers, Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, both had offices and were in the Capitol shared their accounts of the events that unfolded that day. Just six days after the attack on the Capitol, on January 12, 2021, Representative Sherrill released a 13-minute long Live Facebook video in which she claimed to have seen fellow members of congress escort people that would become the rioters through the capitol 24-hours before the incident. Representative James Clyburn reported to CBS News that he had been informed that congressional staff members had seen rioters being let into the Capitol through side doors and insisted that it had to be somebody that worked inside of the building. Clyburn also said that the office with his name on it wasn't affected, however, the office where he does most of his work was surrounded by members of the “mob”, suggesting that the mob had knowledge from the inside about where he actually spent most of his time. Although there is no way to completely validate the stories of both lawmakers, it does help provide evidence that there potentially was some sort of inside help by other officials like democratic members of congress had said.

A person involved in the riot has stepped forward and claimed to have had help from inside Congress. Ali Alexander, a “stop the steal” leader, claimed that the protest was a peaceful event and has been open about having teamed up with Republican Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, to put pressure on Congress while they were voting. Alexander stated that the original purpose of their joint efforts was to “change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body, hearing our loud roar from outside” (Armus). Representatives for both Biggs and Brooks denied giving any help in organizing the January 6th riots and Gosar has yet to respond to the allegations. At an event dedicated to the support of the former president’s rejection towards the election results, Alexander was one of the speakers/organizers and decided to play a video message from Representative Biggs, “where he said he wished he could have attended the event and vowed to challenge the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory” (Armus). Alexander called the Representative a “friend” and “hero” during his time speaking, leading people to believe that they had a close connection. In the hours leading up to the vote, Representative Gosar tagged Ali Alexander in several tweets of pictures of protesters.

As the impeachment trials of former president Donald J Trump unfolded, media coverage about any sort of inside job has begun to slow. However, the events of January 6th will forever be remembered as a turning point in the war between political sides. Post on twitter and other forms of social media suggest connections between the right-wing activist and all three Republicans although the rebulican representatives have denied it. Rumors and reports of insider help are just that, rumors and reports. There is no evidence that members inside of congress aided in the attack that has come to light as of now but time will only tell the specific details about what really happened that day.

Works Cited

Armus, Teo. “A 'Stop the Steal' Organizer, Now Banned by Twitter, Said Three GOP Lawmakers Helped Plan His D.C. Rally.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/ali-alexander-capitol-biggs-gosar/.

Gerstein, Julie. “Several Congressional Democrats Claim the January 6 Capitol Insurrection Was Aided by 'Insiders'.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Jan. 2021, www.businessinsider.com/house-democrats-claim-us-capitol-breach-was-an-inside-job-2021-1.

Salman, Josh. “Capitol Riot: What We Know about Allegations of inside Help from Members of Congress.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Jan. 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/01/15/capitol-riot-what-we-know-allegations-inside-help/4172327001/.

Photo Credit:

Jason Andrew for The New York Times