Far-right Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama, like many of his Republican colleagues in Congress, embraced former President Donald Trump's lies that the 2020 election was somehow stolen by Democrats engaging in widespread election fraud.
This smear campaign culminated in a violent crescendo on January 6, when a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the United States Capitol on January 6 to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
Just before this insurrection, Trump held a "Save America" rally on the ellipse of the White House before instructing his supporters to march to the Capitol and make their voices heard.
Brooks was one of the rally's speakers and later admitted that he'd worn a bulletproof vest during his speech, where he told the crowd:
Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass!"
There's been increased scrutiny of far-right members of Congress like Brooks and the roles they may have played in planning the Save America rally that eventually led to the deadly siege of the Capitol. A recent Rolling Stone report claimed that Brooks played an intimate part in planning the rally—a report that he's now denied.
Brooks said in his response, however, that his staff may have played a role:
"I don't know if my staff did.. but if they did I'd be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the ellipse to protest voter fraud & election theft."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brooks denied his own involvement but praised reports that his staff may have been involved, all while continuing to peddle the same "election theft" lies that incited the riot.
People didn't hesitate to call him out.
Imagine telling someone five or six years ago that there will be a violent attack on the Capitol that will come within a hair's breadth of actual members of Congress being murdered, and yet some sitting members of Congress will cheer it long after the fact, with no repercussionshttps://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Robert Maguire (@Robert Maguire) 1635258133
To be clear, Brooks was one of the featured speakers at this rally he denies being involved in planning.https://twitter.com/mzanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Hunter Walker (@Hunter Walker) 1635265866
Learning that Republican congressman Mo Brooks continues to pervert the Bill of Rights just to evade scrutiny is how you start a Tuesday on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Steward Beckham (@Steward Beckham) 1635248045
Republicans will need to be openly supportive of the attempt to overthrow the government to win primaries next year. Then, in the general, they\u2019ll be in a sweater-vest talking about \u201cgetting America back to work.\u201dhttps://twitter.com/mzanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Jason Karsh (@Jason Karsh) 1635216352
When @RepMoBrooks openly supports the end of democracy by supporting the fascist insurrection attempt.https://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Curly J (@Curly J) 1635270466
Translation: Please take the fall for me.https://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Ramary (@Ramary) 1635254179
They hadn't forgotten his bulletproof vest either.
Dear @RepMoBrooks: So why did you wear a bulletproof vest to the January 6 insurrection rally?https://twitter.com/mzanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1635215105
Then why was Mo Brooks wearing body armor? I\u2019d ask him, but he doesn\u2019t like it when I make him acknowledge any truth #Jan6Insurrection https://twitter.com/mzanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/OTv4b3KFG3— T\ud83d\udc7br\ud83d\udc7b D\ud83d\udc08\u200d\u2b1bbl\ud83d\udc80n \ud83c\udf83\ud83e\uddd9\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@T\ud83d\udc7br\ud83d\udc7b D\ud83d\udc08\u200d\u2b1bbl\ud83d\udc80n \ud83c\udf83\ud83e\uddd9\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1635262523
Says Mo Brooks, who wore a bullet proof vest that day.https://twitter.com/MZanona/status/1452802901735317510\u00a0\u2026— Randi Mayem Singer (@Randi Mayem Singer) 1635263768
It's possible the House Select Committee investigating the riot could uncover more details about Brooks' and other members of Congress' roles in the events leading up to the insurrection.
