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Gaetz — a Florida representative who iscurrently under investigationfor the possible sex tracking of a teenaged girl — attempted to compare those who breached the Capitol because Trump lost the election to those who protested the killing of unarmed Black people last year.
Despite Gaetz’s remarks, data from theArmed Conflict Location & Event Data Project(ACLED) found that “nearly 95%” of the Black Lives Matter protests that occurred in 2020 “involved peaceful protestors.” None led to the attempted overthrow of the U.S government.
In her own brief remarks, Greene said that she and the other lawmakers wanted to know how the detained rioters “are being treated inside the jail. We would like to know many other things,” according toBusiness Insider.
From the beginning of the attemptedpress conference, protesters blew whistles and shouted at the GOP lawmakers in attempts to drown them out. Some also held up signs singling the lawmakers out as “traitors” and “rapists,“Forbesreported. The latter is a clear reference to Gaetz and the allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, claims of which he has denied.
One protestor also carried a “large, inflatable” of former PresidentDonald Trump, according toRolling Stone, that held a sign which read “Pedophiles for Trump.” Another held up a sign that read “Traitors + Rapists Sit Down,” the outlet reported.
All of the lawmakers who appeared at the event are ardent supporters of Trump, and Gaetz and Greene, in particular, have reputations for igniting controversy with what critics say arelittle more than political stunts.
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When met with the sounds of protestors using whistles to drown out her proclamations, Greene — who recently said she is suingNancy Pelosiover a fine she received in regards tonot wearing a maskon the House floor — told the crowd, per Business Insider, “We are not deterred.”
“For anyone that’s here being an activist and yelling today, here’s a statement that I need everyone to understand — we will not back down, we will not stop asking questions, we are looking for the truth,” she added.
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Shortly after saying she and the other lawmakers would “not back down,” though, Greene and the others left the scene as the heckles from the protestors grew louder.
According toForbes, an aide interrupted Greene’s speech, reportedly telling her, “We’ve got to go” and “The left is interrupting the press conference, we need to end it.” She and her fellow Republican colleagues then left the podium and returned to the Capitol.
After returning to the Washington D.C. locale, Good, 55, told the outlet, “The right does not do that, conservatives do not do that, try to shout people down.”
The attempted press conference coincided with day one of a House committee hearing on the Jan. 6 riot, which occurred after thousands of Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 loss to PresidentJoe Biden.
Gonell continued: “Even though we are testifying about the trauma and the agony and everything that happened to us. It’s pathetic. And they shouldn’t be elected officials anymore.”
source: people.com
