Rep. Mo Brooks Gets Absolutely Blasted for Tweeting ‘I Understand Citizenry Anger’ In Response To Capitol Bomb Threat

Sarah RumpfAug 19th, 2021, 4:49 pm
 
Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

Normally, one wouldn’t expect a sitting member of Congress to cheer for terrorists, but apparently that’s the cool new trend among certain Republican Congressmen. On Wednesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted that the Taliban was “[m]ore legitimate than the last government in Afghanistan or the current government here,” and then on Thursday, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) decided he’d like to voice some solidarity with an aspirational terrorist, seemingly expressing empathy for a man arrested for an alleged bomb threat outside the Library of Congress.

Thursday morning, Capitol Police responded to a bomb threat. The suspect, Floyd Ray Roseberry, a 49-year-old man from North Carolina, reportedly told police he had a bomb in his truck, and showed them what appeared to be a detonator. Congress is not in session, so few lawmakers were in the area, but nearby buildings were evacuated. After an approximately five hour long standoff, Roseberry was arrested.

Before Roseberry was taken into custody, he posted a Facebook Live video in which he criticized President Joe Biden and other top Democratic officials — demanding they resign because they were “killing America,” according to Buzzfeed. He also claimed to have enough explosives and shrapnel in the truck to destroy “two and a half city blocks,” in addition to four other bombs. He called on other southerners to join him on Capitol Hill.

“The revolution is on,” said Roseberry in the video. “I’m ready to die for the cause.”

That video had been circulating on Twitter for about two hours when Brooks decided to add his two cents.

“My statement on the Capitol bomb threat,” tweeted Brooks, along with a block of text that began by saying he and his staff were safe and praying for “the safety of Capitol Police and first responders on the scene in Washington.” That’s all very standard stuff, but then it went off the rails.

“Although this terrorist’s motivation is not yet publicly known,” wrote Brooks, “and generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society. The way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 elections. I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do exactly that more so than ever before. Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk.”

Brooks’ wording is a bit mangled; it seems that he intended for the two sentences about the “terrorist’s motivation” and the “way to stop Socialism’s march” to be one idea. Still, his comment that he understood “citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism” drew a swift and loud backlash on Twitter, especially in light of Roseberry’s own words from his Facebook Live video — and Brooks’ own rhetoric from the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the Republicans appointed to the House Select Committee to investigate Jan. 6, responded to Brooks’ statement with a succinct, “Evil.”

This post has been updated to clarify dates of events.

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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.