“There have been things worse than people without any firearms coming into a building,” Gohmert also said on Friday.
The Justice Department has documented supporters of then-President Donald Trump brought dozens of weapons to Washington on the day of the insurrection. Confiscated weapons — like a baseball bat, a spear, chemical irritants, knives and other items — had been seen being used inside the US Capitol and many of these were used to attack police officers protecting the building.
Gohmert also pushed unfounded allegations against the FBI and the Justice Department for “unfairly” going after Trump supporters in their investigation into the insurrection.
“Where is the outrage about young people being unfairly treated? … Joe Biden’s Justice Department is criminalizing political protest,” Gohmert claimed, despite the well-documented and violent takeover of the Capitol that occurred on January 6.
Gohmert’s long-winded speech lasted roughly an hour and covered a wide breadth of other perceived wrongs.
Asked why he was downplaying the events of January 6, Gohmert told CNN, “Any violence should not be downplayed. But people who are not engaged in violence should not be charged with crime.”
Asked if he thought Trump supporters were the ones in the Capitol, Gohmert responded: “Did you advocate for the Democrats to be charged with obstructing session?”
CNN’s Ali Main contributed to this report.
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