Stop the (proverbial) presses — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just said something accurate, incisive and important about Jan. 6.
In a shocking turn of events, the “Squad” member took a break from her usual melodrama about the incident to remark on how authorities “never got to the bottom” of whether Capitol Police officers were “opening the doors” to let protesters into the U.S. Capitol that day.
The New York Democrat made a solid case for further consideration of what, if any, role insiders had in allowing protesters to enter the building — and what has become of them now.
Both in the video she reshared and in her additional commentary, Cortez expressed her outrage that this important fact has not been properly investigated.
“Remember how there was tons of footage and evidence of officers & others inside on 1/6 supporting insurrectionists, but then everyone decided it was too politically risky to investigate thoroughly so they brushed under the rug and now we still have no idea who or what is safe?” Cortez said in her Thursday tweet that included a video posted Wednesday by Pablo Manríquez at Latino Rebels.
“There were actual officers working with this, and we never got to the bottom of that, and we never got any answers about that,” Ocasio-Cortez began in the video.
“And then to this day we’re just supposed to pretend that never happened?” she said, incredulous.
“I have no idea what happened to the people on the inside, who were very clearly sympathetic with what was going on and opening the doors wide open for that,” Cortez added.
“And I’m supposed to sit here and pretend like none of that ever happened,” Cortez fumed.
Do you think there were officials who encouraged or enabled protesters at the Capitol on Jan. 6?
“And then, right afterwards… you just have this idea that throwing money at that problem is going to make it go away without any accountability,” she continued.
“This is where these things are breaking down. We’re not safe. And it’s not just about members of Congress not being safe…We need to get to the bottom of this.”
Remember how there was tons of footage and evidence of officers & others inside on 1/6 supporting insurrectionists, but then everyone decided it was too politically risky to investigate thoroughly so they brushed under the rug and now we still have no idea who or what is safe? https://t.co/eL8BZaANha
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 14, 2022
The House selects committee investigating the Jan. 6 incident was ostensibly formed and is currently holding hearings to do just that.
However, instead of a fact-finding mission, the members of the committee and the witnesses they’ve called are more interested in a show trial where fanciful tales about former President Donald Trump are spun for the amusement of leftists.
But there is absolutely truth to Cortez’s assertion considering that a judge acquitted protester Matthew Martin partly on the basis of a video showing an officer appearing to lean back to let him inside. Martin even appeared to give the officer a pat on the shoulder as thanks and acknowledgment.
Moreover, Cortez’s point explains why the kind of people who supposedly staged this “insurrection” turned out to be average citizens rather than the radical revolutionaries the media and Democrats are painting them as.
One of those arrested included a woman like Lois Lynn McNicoll, a 69-year-old social services worker who entered the building and milled around, the Los Angeles Daily News. (They were really trying to throw the book at her for having the audacity to also take photos of the historic building.)
Instead of investigating the real vulnerabilities that put lawmakers in that type of situation — and the people who should have been the first line to stop it — Democrats are using the committee to throw their leftist base more “Orange Man Bad” red meat.
Was Jan. 6 an ugly day in American history that never should have happened? Absolutely.
But did a ragtag group of rabble-rousers like Martin and McNicoll come this close to staging an insurrection by overpowering Capitol police with no help or even passive cooperation from anyone on the inside?
Well, that’s a tall tale even AOC isn’t buying.
