Texas Republicans Have Again Landed in Spotlight over the U.S. Capitol Riot

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The FBI field office in Dallas has arrested more than 30 people accused of participating in the January 6 riot.

Win McNamee / Getty Images

As a congressional committee continues to investigate the deadly US Capitol riot that rocked the country on Jan. 6, the roles of the Texas Republicans who allegedly played in the riot reappear in the spotlight.

On Thursday night, Rep. Kyle Biedermann, known for supporting the secession of Texas from the United States, denied that such a riot had taken place.

During a debate on Texas’s controversial GOP Electoral Restriction Act, Democratic MP Erin Zwiener called for an amendment that would prevent anyone who participated in rioting in the U.S. Capitol from becoming an electoral assistant, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Biedermann, a Republican from Fredericksburg, took the opportunity to question Zwiener’s description of the insurrection as an “insurrection”.

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“The amendment is all about the uprising you are claiming on January 6th, but you weren’t there. You don’t know what happened, ”said Biedermann. “You only listen to the liberal media, is that correct? Where do you get your information from? ”

When Zwiener asked Biedermann whether he thought the rebellion was a rebellion, he shot back: “Of course not.” (The amendment was not accepted.)

Last January’s Capitol Rising was a real assault on American democracy and those involved should NOT be allowed near our elections.

It is precisely for this reason that I tabled this amendment. Disappointed that my colleagues did not support it. https://t.co/V4lKEVXJIr

– Erin Zwiener (@ErinForYall) August 27, 2021 Biedermann, who disguised himself as “Gay Hitler” for Halloween, was one of several Texas Republicans who attended the rally of former President Donald Trump on January 6, before the Riot saw a mob storm the Capitol.

The legislature was also filmed near the Capitol steps as it stood in the midst of a crowd of Trump supporters yelling “traitors” at lawmakers in the building.

At a radio appearance the day after the uprising, Biedermann claimed that only “a few radicals” “caused the trouble” that day in the Capitol. He said he and others “marched peacefully to our nation’s Capitol to make our voice heard.”

At the time of publication, Biedermann had not yet responded to the observer’s request for comment.

A day before Biedermann’s spit in the Texas legislature, a congressional committee investigating the Capitol uprising requested communications from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who also attended Trump’s January 6 rally.

“We won’t stop fighting.” – Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General

tweet that “We’re not going to stop fighting,” Paxton said at the rally. “We’re Texans, we’re Americans, and the fight will go on.”

To date, the state’s chief police officer has refused to release January 6th record. (He also filed unsuccessful lawsuits late last year to challenge the election results, reflecting the same conspiracy theory that led Trump supporters to raid the Capitol earlier this year.)

Biedermann and Paxton aren’t the only Texas Republicans to be in the spotlight blamed for the riot that killed one police officer and injured more than 100.

Texas Democratic Party deputy director Jamarr Brown said Texas and Florida had the largest number of participants in the riot.

“Groups like the Proud Boys and other domestic terrorist groups feel justified by the acceptance and encouragement they receive from elected Republican officials,” Brown told the Observer. “Many Republicans, particularly in Texas, have benefited politically from joining their dangerous rhetoric in hopes of gaining more political victories.”

Brown blamed a number of Texas Republicans, including Governor Greg Abbott, Paxton and US Senator Ted Cruz, for “stirring up outrage and spreading lies about the elections”.

“Lives have been lost and yet Republicans still completely deny and deny one of the worst days in our country’s history,” he added.

Cruz has also seen many setbacks since the uprising, with Democrats and other critics accusing the Texas Republican of undermining President Joe Biden’s November 2020 victory.

Meanwhile, US MP Louie Gohmert, an East Texas Republican, pitted the Capitol rioters during a press conference in July. “Unfortunately there are two judicial systems in America today: one for former President Trump along with those who support or hate him, and the other for everyone else,” he said.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas in early July, Gohmert also spread the unsubstantiated claim that the January 6 uprising was part of a conspiracy by the Democrats and the federal government. (Before the uprising, Gohmert had warned against “violence on the streets”.)

Gohmert could not be reached for comment.

As of Friday, the FBI field office in Dallas, which comprises most of the upper half of the state, had arrested 31 people for alleged involvement in the riot. The Dallas office expected further arrests, said spokeswoman Melinda Urbina. “We still have a lot in the pipeline,” she said on the phone.

It was revealed last week that Owen Shroyer, a moderator of the Texas-based conspiracy theory website Infowars, was also charged with his alleged role in the riot. Meanwhile, North Texas real estate agent Jenna Ryan pleaded guilty to the riots.

Federal authorities across the country have charged at least 624 people with alleged involvement in the uprising.

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