A group of six Republican lawmakers held a press conference, amid the heckling of protesters, outside the Department of Justice on Tuesday to demand answers about the treatment of those arrested over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Congress members Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Bob Good (R-Va.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) gave remarks from a podium outside the office of the DOJ, to which Greene claimed they were barred entry.
“We want to know how the detainees are being treated inside the jails,” Greene began before introducing Gohmert.
“We have received reports about mistreatment in the jails,” Gohmert claimed, adding, “We have been asking for months for meetings with the attorney general.”
Among the reported examples of mistreatment listed by the House Republicans were due process violations and the needless use of solitary confinement for some prisoners.
“Antifa and BLM set fires to this country for months and we did not see an interest from federal law enforcement at those claims, but now there are Americans all over this country who are being harassed, who are being targeted by law enforcement, and if there is a basis for that, we need to make sure we get it,” Gaetz told the crowd.
The six members demanding answers are a controversial group — Greene for remarks comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust, Gaetz for allegations being investigated that he was involved in sex trafficking, and Gosar for associating with an alleged white nationalist.
Throughout the 20-minute event, one protester incessantly blew some kind of loud whistle while others attempted to shout down the Congress members, and by the end, a small crowd with signs surrounded the podium, forcing the lawmakers to be ushered away by staff.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the two Republicans chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sit on the select committee investigating the riot, was not pleased with her party colleagues, saying, “The fact that so many members of our leadership, and others, the fact that they’ve gone from recognizing what happened on the 6th to protesting in front of the Justice Department on behalf of those who were part of the insurrection is something that I can’t explain.”
“I think it’s a disgrace,” she said.
A total of 543 people have been arrested for their alleged roles in the riot at the Capitol on charges ranging from assault to trespassing, theft of government property, and a host of others.
