US lawmaker: Running from rockets fired from Gaza prepped me for Capitol mob

‘I’ve been through much worse,’ Kathy Manning recalls thinking during the insurrection, citing having to rush to bomb shelters in Sderot during Israel trip

JTA — Kathy Manning, a new US congresswoman from North Carolina, has said her remembrance of fleeing bombs aimed from the Gaza Strip into Israel helped steel her during the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection.

“As my heart started to race, I thought to myself, ‘I’ve been through much worse. I’ve had to run to bomb shelters in Sderot with sirens blaring and rockets overhead coming in from Gaza,’” Manning said Monday evening in a virtual chat with the Jewish Federations of North America, the umbrella body she chaired a decade ago.

Her remarks were first reported by Jewish Insider.

Manning, a Democrat, was one of nine freshmen in Congress to address the virtual mission to Washington.

Trump supporters stand on top of a police vehicle, January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The insurrection, spurred by former US president Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the election, has claimed five lives.

Illustrative: People take cover during a rocket warning siren in Sderot, southern Israel, November 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Terrorists in Gaza have fired tens of thousands of rockets aimed at Israeli cities and communities since the Hamas terror group took over the Strip in 2007 in a bloody coup.

The barrages sparked frequent rocket alarms in cities such as Sderot, where residents generally have 15 seconds to rush to a bomb shelter.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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