Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson (MS-02), the lone Democrat representing the state in D.C., is not only backing his leadership’s calls to remove President Donald Trump ahead of the January 20th inauguration, he is now saying U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, among others, could be placed on the TSA’s “No fly list” following the January 6th breach of the U.S. Capitol.
“In the aftermath of the attack, its perpetrators have continued to enjoy freedom of movement throughout the country,” House Homeland Security Chairman Thompson and the Republican ranking member said in a letter (see below) sent to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration on Monday. “Only a fraction of the insurrectionists have been arrested, and many of those arrested have been released pending a future court date. To our knowledge, the Federal government has not prevented a single insurrectionist from boarding an aircraft. Several have harassed and threatened to harm Members of Congress, flight crewmembers, and the public while traveling.”
Thompson says there is growing online chatter that some in the same groups who entered the Capitol last week may be planning another such attempt to disrupt the inauguration ceremonies next Wednesday.
“Despite this imminent threat,” the Congressmen write, “it appears little is being done to disrupt the travel of terrorists who just attacked the seat of the U.S. Government and wish to do so again.”
Appearing on the Joe Madison Show on SiriusXM (listen below), Thompson was asked if Cruz, Hawley or any member of Congress was “found liable” for inciting the rioters at the the Capitol, should they be on the “No fly list.”
“There’s no question about it,” Thompson said, adding, “People are looking at all of this. What Hawley did and what Cruz did was horrible.” He also mentioned another member of Congress from Colorado who allegedly tweeted directions in the Capitol as the breach was underway.
Y’all Politics sought clarification from Congressman Thompson regarding his recent comments that “alleged perpetrators of a domestic terrorist attack who have been identified by the FBI” should be placed on the “No fly list.”
The vagueness of the statement leaves much to interpretation as it relates to exactly who Thompson is referring to, whether it is anyone who may have attended the January 6th rally in D.C., those specifically who entered the Capitol, and/or those who objected to the certification of the Electoral College votes as supported by Cruz, Hawley, over 120 House Republicans and 5 other U.S. Senators.
Thompson’s office responded by saying the Congressman was referring to “those that broke the law and deemed a threat by law enforcement,” with their goal being to prevent future attacks.
“We have seen credible reports, and the FBI has warned, about attacks over the next week in state capitols and in Washington, D.C.,” Thompson’s office said in an email reply.
Further Thompson’s office responded to the question of why the Congressman specifically believes Cruz and Hawley should be flagged, saying, “The Congressman did not say anything about adding the Senators to a watch list at this time.”
Thompson’s own words to Madison in the Monday morning interview would suggest otherwise.
The Second District Congressman went on to “assure” Madison’s listeners that a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus was held recently and a hearing is set for Wednesday to start their look at what happened, independent of the other committees. Thompson and other Democrats, including President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, have said the rioters at the U.S. Capitol were not met with the same fervor as the Black Lives Matter protestors were during the summer of 2020.
“We believe that that double standard existed on 6th of January,” Thompson told Madison. “We want to know why. Obviously, we do know why but somebody’s going to have to tell us why it occurred other than the fact that that there were white people involved and you treat white protestors with kid gloves and black and white protestors you throw the full faith and power on them to suppress them.”
You can read the letter from the House Homeland Security Committee leaders below.
TSA Letter 1.11.21 by yallpolitics on Scribd
Frank Corder
