It's becoming clear that the assault on the Capitol last week was well-planned. Here are a few of the latest findings:
- The riot may have been coordinated with the help of at least three far-right U.S. Representatives: Andy Biggs, AZ, Mo Brooks, AL, and Paul Gosar, AZ.
- Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, NJ said she saw GOP "colleagues leading groups on "reconnaissance" tours of the building" a day before the riot.
- "One freshman lawmaker, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), is also facing criticism for tweeting about the location of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) while the Capitol was under siege," reports The Washington Post.
- "Several Capitol Police officers have also been suspended and more than a dozen others are being investigated for suspected ties to rioters or for showing inappropriate support for last week's attempted insurrection," reports the Post.
- "The attack on the Capitol was coordinated and planned. Here are the insurrectionists talking about the plan, including detailed schematics of the Capitol building."
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley's chief of staff, Sarah Groh, said the panic buttons in her office had been removed. From the Post:
As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley's office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic. Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office.
"Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit," she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn't switched offices since then.
[Image: By Tyler Merbler – https://www.flickr.com/photos/37527185@N05/50812356151/, CC BY 2.0]