Pelosi: ‘Punk’ in Auschwitz shirt helped spur my review of deadly Capitol raid

In announcing appointment of Lt. Gen. Russel Honore to lead independent probe, speaker says she was moved to act upon watching participation of anti-Semites in riot

Robert Keith Packer seen during the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2020 (L) and in custody in Virginia, January 13, 2013. (Screen capture: Twitter/Western Tidewater Regional Jail)
Robert Keith Packer seen during the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2020 (L) and in custody in Virginia, January 13, 2013. (Screen capture: Twitter/Western Tidewater Regional Jail)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the appearance of a man wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt during the Capitol riot last week was a factor in her determination that the events needed a review that could lead to investigations.

“So many disgusting images, but one figure, the man in a shirt with Auschwitz on it — Auschwitz!” Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday at a news conference to announce that she had hired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore to conduct a review of the deadly raid on Jan. 6.

“To see this punk with that shirt on and his anti-Semitism that he has bragged about to be part of a white supremacist raid on the Capitol requires us to have an after-action review, to assign responsibility to those who are part of organizing it and incentivizing it.”

The man in the T-shirt has since been arrested.

Pelosi said the review by Honore, who has been lauded for his work in leading the 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief, could lead to a 9/11-type congressional commission investigating the riots and their origin.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 15, 2021. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Thousands of protesters who convened on Washington on Jan. 6 to protest Congress’ pro-forma affirmation of Joe Biden’s election to the presidency were spurred to march on the Capitol by President Donald Trump, who continues to abide by the fraudulent claim that he was elected.

Hundreds among the protesters raided the Capitol, attacked its police and looted the grounds. At least five people died as a result.

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