Water bottles, clothes, Trump flags, and even an American flag sown the ground inside the American Capitol after a mob supporting Donald Trump looted the building.
Rep. Andy Kim, New Jersey, was in the middle of the mess shortly after he voted to confirm Joe Biden’s victory over Trump – and felt the weight of the day on him – when something motivated him to clean up the mess .
“I was just really emotional. I felt that this kind of elevated, kind of supercharged kind of patriotism that I just feel was taking over, ‘he said in an interview.
When he noticed that police officers were putting pizza boxes in trash cans, he also asked for one and started cleaning.
“If you see something you like that is broken, you want to fix it. I love the Capitol. I am honored to be there, ”he said. “This building is extraordinary and especially the roundabout is just awesome. How many countless generations have been inspired in that room?
“It really broke my heart and I was just forced to do something. … What else can I do? ‘
The image of Kim bending down to clear rubbish was a violent, historic day that saw an angry crowd break through police, break windows and open doors as they besieged the building, not long after Trump during a rally. protest said they should show ‘strength’. And fight against Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory.
According to a colleague who came across him and initially did not recognize him, Kim, a two-term Democrat from a district that Trump won twice, was not looking for publicity.
“I think it was 1 in the morning,” said Tom Malinowski, New Jersey’s fellow Democrat. ‘There was some National Guardsman and I noticed someone leaning on his hands and knees under a bench to pick something up, and it was Andy himself, just removing the debris and throwing it in a plastic bag. He clearly did not do this for an audience.
“It was the most moving moment of the long night for me.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Kim “represents the best of New Jersey and our country.”
Tom MacArthur, the former GOP representative from New Jersey who beat Kim in a close race in 2018, was delighted with his successor’s actions. It was MacArthur who helped the GOP attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act through the House and stood with Trump and others in the White House to celebrate it, although the attempt failed. Kim partly believed in the popularity of Barack Obama’s health care law.
Kim represents the 3rd District, which stretches from the suburbs of Philadelphia along the Delaware River in the west, over the pine trees of New Jersey to Ocean County.
He launched his campaign in 2017 and returned to the city in southern New Jersey where he grew up after a career in Washington and abroad.
Kim was a University of Chicago graduate and Rhodes scholar. From 2013 to 2015, he was the director of Iraq for the Obama administration’s national security council.
Prior to that, he was the Iraqi director at the Pentagon’s office of defense secretary. He also previously served as civilian adviser to Generals David Petraeus and John Allen in Afghanistan.
He is the son of Korean immigrant parents and will be the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in Congress after being elected in 2018.
On Thursday, he reflected on how he, a colored man, was cleaning up after people waving white supremacist symbols such as the Confederate flag during the disappointment. He said he had not considered race at the time.
But he thought for a moment, adding: ‘It’s so hard because we do not look at each other and see each other first as Americans, whether it be race or ethnicity or religion or political party that can get in the way of that. shared identity that has falsified our country and is needed to continue. ”