January 6th riot was sedition!

Echo report published in The Washington Post by Britanny Shammas:

Rep. Andrew Clyde, who previously said footage of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot looked like a "normal tourist visit", is asked about his statements. Although this report was published last year, the information is current!

Rep. Andrew Clyde says the seditious mob on January 6th was just Capitol tourists!

Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) last week downplayed the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, comparing the mob’s breaching of the building to a “normal tourist visit.”

But photos from that day show the congressman, mouth agape, rushing toward the doors to the House gallery and helping barricade them to prevent rioters from entering. The images have resurfaced in recent days on social media amid a wave of disbelief and outrage over Clyde’s comments, including from several Republicans.

His remarks came during a Wednesday congressional hearing aimed at understanding the security lapses that led up to the Jan. 6 riot, which left one police officer and four others dead, 140 officers injured and members of Congress holed up for hours in secure locations. Clyde was among a handful of Republicans that sought to recast the incident, claiming that calling it an insurrection was “a boldfaced lie.”

He said there was “an undisciplined mob, there were some rioters and some who committed acts of vandalism” but “no insurrection.”

“Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures,” Clyde continued. “You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”

He noted that he helped barricade the door and that the House floor wasn’t breached. But many have pointed to a contradiction between Clyde’s comments and what the photographs showed. 

John Chansley is "The Insurrectionist Shaman", now the face of Republicans.

Observers on Twitter, including lawmakers and anti-Trump super PAC the Lincoln Project, mocked and denounced Clyde’s comparison, questioning why the congressman would have hurried to barricade the door to tourists.

“Is that you in the picture? Do you remember? Insurrectionists were trying to stop the election certification,” wrote Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). “This was not, as you now say, a ‘normal tourist visit.’ 140 police officers were injured, some severely. You should apologize to law enforcement.”

Tom Williams, a CQ Roll Call photographer who captured the image of Clyde barricading the door, described the moment as chaotic and tense.  In fact, during a Tuesday appearance on CNN, he said rioters broke glass and banged on doors as police drew their guns and ordered members of Congress to get down.

The photographer said he went through his Jan. 6 photos and found the one of Clyde after hearing his comments and recognizing him as among those who barricaded the door. Williams shared it Friday on Twitter.

“I just thought, since the story’s out there, let’s get these pictures out so people can see for themselves,” he said on CNN.

Clyde’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Asked about his remarks about the January 6th Capitol assault, the congressman walked away, ignoring other questions as he climbed into a pickup truck.