Kinzinger on GOP lawmaker’s Capitol bomb threat statement: ‘Evil’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) responded sharply to a statement from Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) about a man who made a bomb threat against the Capitol on Thursday, calling Brooks’s comment “evil.”

Kinzinger and Brooks are both Republicans, but they have been on opposite sides over former President Trump and the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol. 

Brooks in his statement criticized the man who made the bomb threat against the Capitol, calling the suspect a “terrorist.”

Streets were blocked off and several buildings were evacuated after the suspect drove a black pickup near the Capitol and claimed to have a bomb. The suspect was eventually talked out of the truck and apprehended, and it is unclear if he had an explosive device. 

Brooks also, however, said he understood some anger that was directed toward the Capitol and those working in it, a remark that to many seemed to offer support to the mob that attacked the Capitol in January, and to other forms of right-wing terrorism.

“Sadly, violence and threats of violence targeting America’s political institutions are far too common,” Brooks wrote in his statement. “Although this terrorist’s motivation is not yet publicly known, and generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the fabric of American society. The way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 elections.”

“I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do exactly that more so than before. Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk,” he added.  

In his tweet, Kinzinger retweeted the Brooks statement, simply writing, “Evil.”

Evil https://t.co/RwbvKVWSE7

— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) August 19, 2021

Brooks — along with Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani — is being sued by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) for allegedly inciting the rioters who broke into the Capitol when he spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the attack.

Last month, the Department of Justice said it would not defend Brooks in the lawsuit against him, declining to certify his claim that speaking at the rally fell within his duties as a U.S. representative.

The suspect behind the bomb threat was apprehended by authorities on Thursday afternoon. He has been identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry, 49, from North Carolina. Police did not suggest a motive, though they said he had been dealing with some “issues.”

Capitol Police evacuated the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress’s Jefferson Building and numerous other buildings in the area after Roseberry allegedly told officers that he had a bomb and appeared to have a detonator.