A day after hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a group of them who took over the office of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, called to ask about objects they had left behind. there.
Jamie Raskin, a Democratic representative and part of the Congressional commission investigating the riots, was the one who confirmed the calls this Friday to the Insider portal.
"[The agitators] would call to ask if there were any lost items that had been found, because
they had forgotten their phone, or their wallet,
or whatever," Raskin said.
A Trump supporter sits in the office of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 6, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
That January 6, 2021, Pelosi's office was invaded and her staff had to hide in a conference room where they blocked the doors with filing cabinets in fear for their lives.
[The lie of the year 2021: the falsehoods about the violent assault on the Capitol and its meaning]
According to Raskin, Capitol officials answered the calls and told people on the other end of the line, "Yeah, just give us your name, address, your Social Security number and we'll tie up any loose ends."
Thus they later managed to arrest several.
But what surprised Raskin the most is that those responsible for the riots they called did
n't really feel they had done anything wrong
, Slate magazine reports.
On video: The chronology of the assault on a Capitol that shocked the US and the world
Jan. 7, 202202:49
"What is most fascinating to me is that there were actually people who felt that they had been summoned to Washington by the president," Raskin added.
[One year has passed since the assault on the Capitol on January 6: an attack on democracy that is not forgotten]
This, according to the Democrat, confirms the crucial role that Trump played in the assault and, in turn, "
creates a problem by assigning blame
to different levels of conduct."
Raskin concluded that
there were then different components
to what happened and that it wasn't just "one undivided action sequence. I wish people understood that."