US senator: rioters who stormed the Capitol planned to kidnap the Vice President
Shafaq News/ Republican Senator Ben Sasse on Friday said the Americans should take reports from the Department of Justice (DOJ) seriously.
In court documents filed on Thursday, federal prosecutors in Arizona alleged that some of the individuals who stormed the Capitol building intended to harm elected officials.
The prosecutors maintained that “strong evidence supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government.”
Sasse, in a statement on Friday, warned that "rage-peddlers" are going to try to "white wash" the events at the Capitol, adding that Americans should not accept that the attack was a result of the actions of "a few bad apples."
"That’s wrong. Every American needs to understand what the Department of Justice has just made public: Investigators have strong evidence to suggest that some of the rioters who stormed the United States Capitol planned to kidnap and possibly assassinate the Vice President," Sasse said.
A mob of pro-Trump rioters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College win. Rioters broke windows and vandalized lawmakers' offices, forcing members, staff and media to evacuate to undisclosed locations.
Pence, who was overseeing Congress's certification of the electoral count, had faced mounting pressure from President Trump to throw out election results. Pence emphasized in a letter before the riot that he did not believe he had the constitutional authority to reject Electoral College votes.
Sasse on Friday underscored those rioters who stormed the Capitol and sought to harm elected officials "weren’t drunks who got rowdy — they were terrorists attacking this country’s constitutionally-mandated transfer of power."
"They failed, but they came dangerously close to starting a bloody constitutional crisis," he added.
Sasse's statement comes as the FBI has reported increased chatter online about potential violence in Washington, D.C., and at state Capitols across the country around Biden's inauguration. Security has been ramped up since the riots, and more than 20,000 National Guard members are expected to be in D.C. for the inauguration.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that more than 100 people across the country have been arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riot, with dozens more expected to face charges.
