Senator Rand Paul said in an interview last week that the newly-implemented security apparatus at the Capitol is an overreaction and seems to have turned the city into a “militarized zone.”
More than 20,000 armed National Guardsmen have descended on the Capitol after the riot on 6 January while Congress certified the Electoral College vote for Joe Biden. Five people died and dozens were arrested. The FBI continues to search for those seen in photos from the scene.
Federal authorities initially came out and said the rioters wanted to assassinate “elected officials,” but they have since backtracked and said there was no “direct evidence” to support those claims.
Paul appeared on Fox News last week and said the federal government held due to form: “They either underreact or overreact.” He continued,
“So, I think there was too little security, obviously, last week, and now we’re going to become a militarized zone. And they’re checking congressmen as they come in to see if they have a sharp pencil or sharp pen. So, it’s gotten ridiculous. And so, we’ll see what happens and whether it’s permanent. But most people who write about civil liberties say that in times of war, or in times of stress, or in times of crisis, you lose your civil liberties very quickly.”
Paul was likely also referring to the newly-installed metal detectors at the entrance to the chamber in the Capitol. NBC News reported at least 12 Republican members stepped around the detectors.
“This is bulls—,” Republican Rodney Davis told the officers, according to the report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in response, has pushed for a new rule that would fine members $5,000 for first-time offenses and $10,000 for a second.
“Many House Republicans have disrespected our heroes by verbally abusing them and refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our congressional community, including the Capitol police, safe,” Pelosi said in a statement. She called it a “tragic” but necessary step.
USA Today reported that Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, said the metal detectors would have done little to stop the chaos that occurred at the Capitol and called it “just another political stunt” by a Democrat trying to capitalize on the incident. She said,
“Government, once it grows large, never wants to give up on this. But yes, we have to resist this. And we have to have security, obviously. But I think living in a wartime state with… we have troops in the capitol. They’re staying in the capitol. There platooning and camping in the capitol. So, I understand, that happened last week with that. But going forward, this week, I think we– there’s a danger of overreacting.”
TRENDPOST: Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last week that the security measures in the city will be the new normal after the riot at the Capitol and will continue long after Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“We are going to go back to a new normal,” she said.
Violent protests broke out across Washington, D.C. several times last year including one in August that reportedly required President Trump to be “rushed” to an underground bunker “used in the past during terrorist attacks,” according to The New York Times.
Bowser did not feel the need to take action after the commander-in-chief was rushed into a bunker, but now she has decided to take the security threat in the Capitol seriously. Perhaps if members of Congress and Bowser took a more serious approach to the unrest over the summer, the breach could have been avoided.
Moreover, while the government has imposed strict “security rules” for We the People following 9/11 – that the most “advanced” military/intelligence complex was unable to prevent and failed as well in stopping the Washington riots of 6 January – now Washington politicians are living with the loss of freedoms they have forced on the general population.
