[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 18, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WHAT CONSTITUTES AN INSURRECTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Mrs. Greene) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the 
commission to study the events of January 6, as well as spending $2 
billion in a security supplemental.
  The question that comes to mind is this: What about all the riots 
that happened during the summer of 2020 after the death of George 
Floyd? What about all the damage caused to Federal buildings, churches, 
people's businesses, and innocent people that were killed, like David 
Dorn?
  This past summer, Minneapolis city officials estimate 700 buildings 
were damaged, burned, or destroyed, including 360 local businesses. 
Riots caused an estimated $55 million in damages in Minneapolis alone.
  BLM and antifa established an autonomous zone in Seattle and 
attempted to burn government buildings in Portland. Is that not an 
insurrection?
  On one Friday night alone in New York City, BLM protesters caused 
over $100,000 in damages, and 150 people were arrested.
  Just one Monday night in Philadelphia resulted in a crowd of 1,000 
people looting stores, setting fires in the middle of the street, and 
30 police officers injured.
  Protests in Kansas City resulted in $2.1 million in damages, mostly 
over the course of one weekend. Several officers were injured as well.
  Protests in Wichita, Kansas, cost the police department about $1.5 
million in overtime.
  Protests in Salt Lake City cost at least $100,000 in damages.
  Protests in Denver cost the city at least $5.5 million in damages and 
overtime.
  BLM protesters in Nashville set a Federal courthouse on fire. The 
destruction is estimated to have cost $1.2 million in damages. Again, 
is that an insurrection?
  Protesters in Portland destroyed barriers and attempted to burn down 
government buildings, resulting in $2.3 million in damages, including 
$1.6 million in damages to the courthouse downtown.
  In St. Louis, following a night of violence, buildings were looted, 
vandalized, and burned.
  Protestors in Louisville set the courthouse on fire and shot two 
cops, resulting in a state of emergency order being declared.
  Protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, injured police officers, set off 
fireworks near the police and courthouse, and set at least two city 
trucks on fire.
  In Guilford County, North Carolina, a courthouse was broken into and 
set on fire, resulting in roughly $200,000 in damages.
  Protests in Oakland, California, resulted in a courthouse being set 
on fire and vandalized.
  The LAPD was defunded by $150 million, and some smaller crime units 
were eliminated entirely.
  Studies show 570 protests in 220 U.S. locations turned violent over 
the summer. Are those not insurrections?
  The $1-plus billion in riot damages is estimated to be the most 
expensive in insurance history. It resulted in up to $2 billion of 
damages in 20 cities across the U.S., mostly concentrated in L.A., 
Detroit, Miami, D.C., and New York.
  Indeed, we should have a commission to study the violent BLM and 
antifa mobs that have plagued American cities this past summer, and 
that is for the American people who, by the way, pay the taxes that 
fund everything we do here.
  Also, we should have a security supplemental to fund all the police 
departments that have been defunded due to the pressure from radical, 
violent, and socialist groups. We should back the blue because they 
certainly back us.
  Also, while it is catch-and-release for domestic terrorists, antifa, 
BLM, the people who breached the Capitol on January 6 are being abused, 
some even being held for 23 hours a day in solitary confinement.
  So, Mr. Speaker, my questions are these: Who placed the pipe bombs at 
the RNC and the DNC, which is an attack on both Republicans and 
Democrats? Why was President Trump's request on January 5 for 10,000 
National Guard denied, and who denied it, and what chain of command did 
they follow? Also, who killed Ashli Babbitt, and why is that not being 
revealed? Does her family not deserve justice? Lastly, when will the 
witch hunt of Donald J. Trump come to an end, and all of those who 
support him?

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