Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared Monday to make light of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, claiming that some of the pro-Trump insurrectionists were just “teenagers” taking a walk through the historic building.
The controversial first-term Republican, who has a history of promoting political violence and far-right conspiracy theories, made the downplaying comment about the Jan. 6 assault as part of a tweet criticizing a police reform bill that is expected to get a vote in the House this week.
“If Democrats pass the Anti-Police bill this week, it will become illegal for the FBI to use facial recognition from video footage to identify suspects. The FBI won’t be able to tweet pics like this or of teenagers they are pursuing, who walked through the Capitol on 1/6,” Greene tweeted in response to a Feb. 16 post from the bureau asking the public for help to identify suspected attackers.
Nick Dyer, a spokesman for Greene, declined to say what formed the basis for the congresswoman’s claim about teenagers.
Instead, when reached for comment, Dyer accused the Daily News of taking Greene’s words out of context.
“You are a liar and have already put words in her mouth,” Dyer said. “Stop being an unethical scribe for Democrats. Have a nice day!”
Despite Greene’s tweet, many of the individuals criminally charged with storming the Capitol are affiliated with far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, according to court papers.
Many attackers were armed and decked out in tactical gear as they besieged the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s election. A police officer died in the riot, and more than 100 of his colleagues were wounded.
Meantime, Greene’s claim about the legislation under consideration is also misleading.
The so-called George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named after the Minneapolis man who died at the hands of police last spring, would not outright ban the use of facial recognition in law enforcement. Rather, it proposes to restrict usage of the technology in officers’ body cameras.
Also Monday, the White House officially threw its support behind the legislation named after Floyd.
“To make our communities safer, we must begin by rebuilding trust between law enforcement and the people they are entrusted to serve and protect,” the White House said in a statement advocating swift passage of the bill. “We cannot rebuild that trust if we do not hold police officers accountable for abuses of power and tackle systemic misconduct — and systemic racism — in police departments.”
