Gay Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney was ‘ready to fight MAGA a*sholes’ who stormed the US Capitol
Sean Patrick Maloney.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Democratic lawmaker Sean Patrick Maloney has described the tense moments before a pro-Trump, white supremacist mob breached the US Capitol complex.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Maloney told how he hunkered down in the House of Representatives as he saw terrifying news reports and social media posts about the seething crowds storming Congress to stop lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory on 6 January.
Maloney, who represents New York’s 18th Congressional District, was holed up with Texas Democrat Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker, and said to him: “Are you ready to fight these MAGA a**holes?”
Allred replied: “I’m ready to go.”
Sean Patrick Maloney: ‘They were breaking the glass out of those doors, and I was about 20 feet away.’
Maloney described startling scenes of staffers piling desks and dragging heavy furniture in front of the chamber doors in an attempt to stop the crowds of right-wing thugs tearing through the Capitol.
“We thought they would be inside the chamber at any moment,” he recalled, describing hearing gas canisters ricochet off the barricaded doors.
“They were literally breaking the glass out of those doors, and I was about 20 feet away.”
A supporter of US President Donald Trump sits inside the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
While the blockade gave colleagues a chance to evacuate the building, the 54-year-old said images of terrified older lawmakers and those in poor health fleeing struck him.
“They should never have to been put in that position,” he reflected, adding that: “A mob is a group act of insanity, so it wasn’t clear to me what they were capable of.”
As lawmakers hurried to safety during Capitol riots, a gunshot was fired.
Rolling up their sleeves, Sean Patrick Maloney said he and four other Democrats were preparing to fight back against the rioters when police officers entered.
Lending the lawmakers gas masks as they were hurried to a safe location, Maloney said he saw the rioters trying to smash a glass door to get into the Speaker’s Lobby, an ornate corridor containing portraits of past house speakers.
That’s when he heard a gunshot. “I believe that was the moment the woman was shot,” he said, referring to the moment an officer opened fire on MAGA-supporter Ashli Babbitt.
Violent rioters gather outside the Capitol building in Washington DC. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The melee, Maloney said, could have easily have slipped into further disarray if it were not for the Capitol Police. “I don’t know why you bring zip ties unless you plan to take hostages,” he said.
“Clearly it could have been an even more violent situation. It could’ve still been going on. It would have been an entirely different level of tragedy.”
Moreover, Donald Trump’s role in the explosive insurrection left Maloney rattled: “I don’t know that I’ve ever been as angry in my life.
“If you don’t get impeached and removed for inciting an attack on the Capitol, I don’t know what we have impeachment for.
“We’re through playing games. The president incited a violent attack on the Capitol, and we’re going to do something about it.”
Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection on Wednesday (13 January). A Senate trial is expected to take place following Joe Biden’s inauguration.
