Everybody’s Horrified by Republicans Refusing Metal Detector Scans at the Capitol

House Republicans start a culture war Tuesday over mandatory metal detectors after Capitol siege

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Several GOP congressional representatives refused to comply with metal detector scans at the Capitol barely a week after the building was ransacked and looted by a violent mob incited by Donald Trump, calling the scans “unconstitutional” and “communist.”

The situation at the Capitol is being reported on by national political journalists at the scene including the Huffington Post’s Matt Fuller and CNN’s Manu Raju — and the internet reaction is, unsurprisingly, fear and disgust.

Both reporters tweeted Tuesday evening they observed many Republican representatives refusing to walk through the metal detectors or even finding ways to go around it.

Some Democrats commented on the issue including New York City representative Grace Meng. “As we speak, my colleagues from the @GOP party of ‘law and order’ are literally blowing past the @CapitolPolice, talking back to them and refusing to go through the metal detectors installed today to protect us from them. Yet another way they are endangering our lives,” Meng said Tuesday evening.

Meng’s fellow NYC Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was quick to point out the hypocrisy: “All these GOP ‘pro-police’ slogans were never actually about [sic] safety,” she said.

New York Magazine contributor Yashar Ali pointed out the hypocrisy in so-called “pro-law and order” representatives refusing a scan — “Again, this is the just comply/law and order/back the blue crowd,” he noted.

The metal detectors were installed to protect everyone inside the halls of congress, but GOP representatives are claiming the scans make them feel like “prisoners” and that they’re somehow unconstitutional. Even Representatives who are on record supporting metal detectors in other places, like schools, are somehow making the argument that they’re not appropriate in Congress. Fuller reported that GOP party member and Idaho representative Russ Fulcher “just pushed his way through. He went through the metal detector, set it off, ran into a cop, and then pushed his way past her.”

“60 Minutes” correspondent Wesley Lowery said in response to Fuller’s tweet that the congressman in question was likely committing a crime by doing that — “So he arguably assaulted a police officer rather than comply with a lawful order. Hmm,” Lowery said.

“Moments after VP Pence asks House Dems to ‘work together’ to ‘lower the temperature’ of the nation, a number of House Republicans pick a culture war fight over having to walk through metal detectors to get into the very Capitol building that was breached six days ago,” Lowery added.

Check out more reactions below.

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1349177120686276610

https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1349162872211910659

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1349180986131701760

 

 

 

Samson Amore

Reporter • samson.amore@thewrap.com • Twitter: @Samsonamore

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