Warner Blames Trump For Capitol Attack, Calls For Removal

VIRGINIA — On Thursday morning, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) walked through the U.S. Capitol's halls, observing broken windows and debris on the floor. Not even 24 hours before, insurrectionists Warner described as "thugs" stormed the Capitol, causing destruction on the House and Senate floors and offices, leading his staff and others to be in lockdown for hours.

He said 60 law enforcement officers were injured, and four people are dead. One of the victims was shot and killed, and three others suffered medical emergencies amid the attack.

"These were domestic terrorists. These were thugs incited by Donald Trump and I can tell you as somebody who was on the Senate floor and saw the reactions of the many brave Capitol Police and Sergeant at Arms personnel but there was no robust plan," Warner said to the media on Thursday. "There was no orderly movement of senators and staff. There was not the kind of preparation that I had been promised the night before by a senior official of the FBI."

Warner recounted the Senate starting debate on Arizona's electoral votes when a "flurry of activity" ensued. Sen. Chuck Grassley, president pro tempore, was escorted from the chamber, then Secret Service then rushed Vice President Mike Pence out. With minutes of confusion following in the chamber, Warner believes there was no orderly plan about securing the Senate floor and where senators and staff would be moved.

Members of Congress resumed the electoral count at 8 p.m. and completed the constitutionally mandated count at 3:40 a.m. Thursday.

"I think the mood last night was mostly determination that we were not going to let mob rule win the day," said Warner.

Warner laid blame for Wednesday's events on President Donald Trump and voiced support for invoking the 25th amendment to remove the president from office. The senator has spoken with members of Trump's Cabinet urging them to do so or resign. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated Thursday if the 25th amendment is not invoked, House Democrats will seek impeachment.

"There's never been an American leader that's called people to this kind of violence against their dually elected representatives, Democrats, Republicans alike," Warner said. "The absolute outrageousness of this person's actions to encourage this horde of thugs to attack the Capitol when he knew his own vice president was there doing his duty speaks legends about the character of Donald Trump."

The senator said he had been in contact with the FBI and others before the events unfolded at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. He had been concerned ahead of time about domestic terrorism but was assured by senior FBI officials "that they had the resources and intelligence to take on this threat."

"They were flat wrong," said Warner. "Yesterday was an embarrassment in terms of the response in terms of having appropriate resources ready to deploy, images of some Capitol police at least taking selfies with these thugs, or in some places even letting these insurrectionists through gates. Our country needs a full and thorough investigation of what went wrong in terms of preparations."

Warner believes part of the investigation needs to involve the arrest and prosecution of individuals identified inside the Capitol, including those photographed in the Senate or House presiding chairs or the House Speaker's office.

The senator acknowledged the "brave" Capitol police and other law enforcement that tried to do their jobs but said they were under-resourced. However, he did question how law enforcement responded to the insurrectionists inside the Capitol compared to Black Lives Matter protesters or others.

As of mid-day Thursday Warner knew of dozens arrested in relation to Wednesday's riot. He contrasted that with the Capitol Police response to disabled protesters inside a Senate office building in 2018, leading to over 40 arrests and videos showing protesters being pulled from wheelchairs.

Capitol Police announced 14 arrests from Wednesday. Separately, a Hill reporter said Metropolitan Police in DC made 69 arrests from Wednesday afternoon into the night, some of which were curfew violations.

"These people assaulted Capitol Police, they broke government property, they desecrated the halls of Congress," said Warner. "When we arrest more people in a disability protest or when we club more people in Lafayette Square for the Black Lives Matter protest so Donald Trump could hold a Bible in front of a church, and we allow these thugs to take over our Capitol without any consequences at least so far, it's a sad day for our country."

SEE ALSO: Trump Mob Attacks Capitol; 4 Deaths; 69 Arrests; FBI Seeks Tips

He also cited a Second Amendment rights protest in Richmond last January that remained peaceful with comparable crowds to the Wednesday protest. He questioned why the U.S. government with its resources could not prepare for Wednesday's protest when the Commonwealth of Virginia was prepared for the Richmond protest.

Regional leaders will continue monitoring safety leading up to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser extended the public emergency for 15 days, and Gov. Ralph Northam extended the Virginia National Guard's deployment through at least Jan. 20 based on conversations with emergency teams and DC officials. Virginia state police also remained in DC on Thursday.

Looking ahead to Inauguration Day, Warner said there need to be better preparations.

"If we have to be prepared to go into lockdown any time there's a presidential inauguration or a major debate on the floors of Congress, that's not the kind of country we are," said Warner. "So we need, number one, a better plan from law enforcement on what's going to happen on inaugural day, number two, if we see the same kind of chatter from these domestic terrorists, we need to have intelligence penetration to make sure that we're better informed, and three, we need responsible leadership from both political parties to tell their most fervent supporters that violence on Inauguration Day is not only counter to who were are as Americans but one more example of playing completely into the hands of our adversaries."