Local U.S. Reps. Phillips, Omar React to U.S. Capitol Security Breach
Local U.S. Reps. Phillips, Omar Both Safe Following U.S. Capitol Security Breach
On a day when the U.S. House and U.S. Senate were to meet to certify the Electoral College vote and 14 days before Joe Biden is to be sworn in as the nation’s 46th president, a mob of protesters, many of them declaring support for President Donald Trump, swarmed the U.S. Capitol, breaching security.
Third District Congressman Dean Phillips and Fifth District Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, both Democrats, reacted to the breach as they were being whisked away to a more secure location. Phillips, whose district includes Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove and Plymouth, tweeted about the situation at approximately 1:40 p.m.
They’ve asked us to take cover on the House floor and get our gas masks ready. This is insane.
— Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) January 6, 2021
About an hour later, Phillips tweeted that “It is imperative that we finish counting the States’ electors as soon as possible before turning our attention to the enabler of today’s horror. Our oaths and our country require it.”
A Phillips staff member told CCX News reporter Sonya Goins that the congressman had staff stay home in anticipation of potential unrest.
Omar Also Safe, Pushes for Impeachment of President Trump
Also about 1:40 p.m., U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, tweeted that she was safe, “but heartbroken about what we are enduring at our nation’s Capitol. Running for our lives as Members of Congress in the United States is really devastating and totally shocking.”
Current scene at the Capital.
Buildings are locked down and everyone is sheltering in. pic.twitter.com/lYvoX1ra6r
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
Omar’s Fifth District includes Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope and Robbinsdale. She later tweeted about drawing up a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump.
I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment.
Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate.
We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
President Trump during a taped address shortly before 3:30 p.m. continued to call the election results “fraudulent,” but urged his supporters to “go home.”
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