House Majority Leader James Clyburn said Friday that the ease with which rioters were able to enter the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday indicates that someone inside the Capitol was “complicit” in the assault.
“I do believe there was something going on,” Clyburn told CBSN anchor Lana Zak. “They knew where to go. I was told by other Congress people that their staff said people were allowed through side doors into the building. Who opened the side doors for these protesters, or I call them? Gangs, the building enter, not through the main entrance where there are magnetometers, but through side doors. Yes, someone on the inside of the buildings was complicit in this. ”
Supporters of President Trump looted the building and forced the evacuation of lawmakers who met to count the votes of the Electoral College.
Clyburn suggested that his indoor office be targeted by the mob because there were ‘activities outside my indoor office where most people do not know where it is’.
“The office with my name on the door was not touched. But the office where I do most of my work was on that floor and outside the door,” the South Carolina Democrat said.
Clyburn also said he felt something was “missing” Wednesday morning when he arrived at the Capitol and “the perimeter has not yet been determined.”
“There were no security people on the stairs. “They were all in a place that I think offers low security,” he said, adding: “They were not just abandoned. You could say they were complicit. ‘
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund given his resignation following the riots, but defended the police response to the violence. He said the officers’ actions were “heroic given the situation they were in.” One police officer and four civilians were killed during the riots.