None other than controversial Republican Senator Josh Hawley was the butt of the joke during last night’s public January 6th when the crowd in the hearing room burst into rounds of laughter after they were shown footage of the GOP lawmaker fleeing from the Capitol building during the infamous January 6th attack.
One Democratic lawmaker who serves on the House Select Committee, Rep. Elaine Luria, noted that just hours before Hawley was caught fleeing from the building in apparent fear, he was seen raising his fist “in solidarity” with the protesters. Luria told the hearing room that a Capitol Police officer testified to the panel that Hawley’s gesture “riled up the crowd.”
“Later that day, Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped rile up stormed the Capitol,” Luria said. “See for yourself.”
The House Select Committee then proceeded to air never-seen-before footage that showed Sen. Hawley running across a hallway and down a flight of stairs as the Capitol insurrection was in progress.
The Jan. 6 committee played video of Senator Josh Hawley fleeing the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, hours after he riled the crowd earlier with a raised fist. The committee room burst into laughter when the footage was played, @hillhulse reports. https://t.co/9bErLV70cn pic.twitter.com/y0AoOjRCeQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2022
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The laughter was audible and undeniable in the massive hearing room as the footage of Hawley scampering away in fear was rolled for all to see.
A filmmaker working with the committee, Dan Pryzgoda, was also able to capture the scene:
Immediate reaction to the vid: pic.twitter.com/XAv4jc2tjr
— Dan Przygoda (@dprzygoda) July 22, 2022
Michael Fanone, the former DC Police officer who was attacked by Trump’s rabid mob during the Capitol siege, spoke with Politico’s JC Whittington following last night’s explosive hearing and admitted that his very first thought following the footage of Hawley was: “Josh Hawley is a bitch. And he ran like a bitch.”
He went on to say that Hawley’s raised fist gesture in comparison to the footage of him running from the Capitol “just shows the true character, or lack thereof” of Hawley.
Fanone also confirmed that “there was an eruption of laughter” in the room over the video.
Read full reporting on the matter from Business Insider here.
Featured image via screen capture
