Rep. Loudermilk Attacks Jan. 6 Committee for ‘Undermining’ Capitol Police by Releasing Video of Him Leading Tour Day Before Riot

Sarah RumpfJun 15th, 2022, 1:27 pm
 

Loudermilk tour

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) lashed out against the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, issuing a statement accusing them of “undermining” the Capitol Police and engaging in a “smear campaign” against him.

Loudermilk is one of several Republican members of Congress accused of giving “reconnaissance tours” in early January 2021 to the rioters who would end up violently storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Capitol tours were not generally available to the public during this time because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

News broke this week that video evidence existed that a man who was part of a tour Loudermilk led on Jan. 5 would participate in the Capitol attack the next day, issuing threats against various congressional Democrats. Loudermilk denied the accusation, claiming he “never gave a tour of the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021” and “a small group visiting their congressman is in no way a suspicious activity.” He also pointed to a letter from the Capitol Police, and appeared on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News program Tuesday evening to deny any wrongdoing.

Wednesday morning, the Jan. 6 Committee released video clips showing that Loudermilk did, in fact, walk around the Capitol with these visitors — in common parlance, what most would consider a “tour” — and that at least one of the people on this tour videoed himself outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 just before the attack began.

Those videos are disturbing, showing the man’s companion brandishing an American flag on a flagpole topped with a sharpened point that he said was “for a certain person,” and then the man making various threats towards Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

“There’s no escape, Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler,” the man said in the video. “We’re coming for you…for Pelosi, Nadler, Schumer, even you, AOC. We’re coming to take you out. We’ll pull you out by your hairs. How ’bout that, Pelosi?”

After the release of the video clips, Loudermilk issued another statement defending himself, but skipping over his previous denial that he had given a Capitol tour on Jan. 5.

“The Capitol Police already put this false accusation to bed,” said Loudermilk in the statement, “yet the Committee is undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign, releasing so-called evidence of a tour of the House Office Buildings, which I have already publicly addressed.”

Loudermilk continued to blast the “false narrative” pushed by Democrats that he and other Republicans led reconnaissance tours, claiming that the images showed “children holding bags from the House gift shop, which was open to visitors, and taking pictures of the Rayburn train.”

He also complained that the Committee released their letter to the press without contacting him. “This type of behavior is irresponsible and has real consequences,” he concluded, “including death threats to myself, my family, and my staff.”

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.