KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Jan. 6, 2021, Lloyd Casimiro Cruz Jr., 40, of Polo, attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. After the rally, he walked down to the U.S. Capitol, where he saw people breaking windows and fighting with police. He then walked into the Capitol through a door on the Senate side, walked to the crypt and walked out.
He was in the building a total of six minutes. Last month, he pleaded guilty on one charge of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and one charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who was the first senator to say he would object to the certification of the presidential election, said he isn’t sure people like Cruz should be convicted of any crimes from that day.
“You’ve got people saying I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be in here,” Hawley said this week. “They didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t assault anybody. They didn’t engage in any acts of violence. They stayed within the velvet rope lines or whatever. And they’ve been charged with with trespass. I mean, I imagine those people have got good claims, I assume, to litigate cases.”
Cruz is one of 919 people who have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds, according to the Department of Justice. He is one of 518 people have pleaded guilty to federal charges. Cruz’s attorneys have said they will appeal.
The Capitol was closed to the public on Jan. 6, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the certification of the election, which means anyone who entered committed a crime.
Hawley’s suggestion that some of the people who entered the Capitol shouldn’t have been charged follows two years of scrutiny over the Missouri Republican’s own role in the events of that day. Hawley’s political mentor, former Sen. John Danforth, blamed Hawley for the riot based on his comments in the days leading up to the attack and his decision to raise his fist in solidarity with a crowd of former President Donald Trump’s supporters earlier in the day.
Hawley’s comments came after Fox News host Tucker Carlson showed footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and downplayed the violence that occurred that day. In one of the clips, he showed footage of members of the Senate fleeing the chamber as the mob approached.
The clip was in response to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol’s decision to show a photo of Hawley raising his fist to protesters outside of the Capitol and then fleeing the chamber later in the day. Hawley has used the image of his raised fist on fundraising merchandise for his campaign.
“I saw his segment on me,” Hawley said. “I’ve seen that part. I thought it was good.”
But Hawley wouldn’t say if he agreed with Carlson’s portrayal of the events that happened that day. During his speech where he continued to object to the presidential results in Pennsylvania after the mob had delayed the certification of the election, Hawley said they should be punished. He reiterated that statement this week.
“There were definitely people who weren’t tourists,” Hawley said. “I mean, there’s no doubt about that there are people who committed crimes. So I mean, people who committed acts of violence and who engaged in crime should be prosecuted.”
Other Republican senators were more critical of Carlson’s portrayal of the attack. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, called the coverage “bullshit.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the coverage a “mistake.”
“It was a mistake in my view for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks,” McConnell said.
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