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- The organizer behind the rally leading up to the Capitol siege said three GOP congressmen, representatives, Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar helped plan last week’s event.
- Biggs and Brooks have denied helping Ali Alexander, and a spokesperson for Gosar declined a request for comment.
- “The four of us planned to put maximum pressure on Congress while they voted,” Alexander said.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Ali Alexander, the organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement, said three members of Republican Congress helped him plan the January 6 rally that preceded the armed uprising on Capitol Hill that left five people dead.
Alexander said the representatives. Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar helped him plan the event that occurred as Congress prepared to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral vote, the Washington Post reported.
“The four of us planned to put maximum pressure on Congress while they voted,” Alexander said in a since-deleted Periscope video.
He added to the Post that the plan was to “change the hearts and minds of the Republicans who were in this body, upon hearing our loud roar from outside.”
A spokeswoman for Gosar told Insider: “The congressman has no comment at this time.”
Daniel Stefanski, spokesperson for Representative Andy Biggs told Insider that Alexander’s claims were “absolutely false.”
“Congressman Biggs has never heard of or met Mr. Alexander – let alone worked with him to organize part of a protest scheduled for January 6. He had no contact with protesters or rioters, and he never had contact with him. encourage or promote the January 6 rally or demonstrations, ”Stefanski said.
The insider was unable to contact Brooks for comment at the time of publication, but in an official statement from his office he said he was unaware the Capitol siege would come after he spoke during a gathering preceding it.
“Also, I spoke very early in the political rally. There was music, there was my speech, there was more music, then there were a number of speakers, then a few more hours. late President Trump started talking, ”Brooks said.
“I ask this question, if my remarks were as inspiring as the Democratic Socialists and their allies at Fake News Media want the public to believe, why did the attendees at the Trump rally, after my remarks not immediately stand up and stormed the Capitol? ” said the statement.
On January 6, Trump supporters violated the U.S. Capitol and clashed with law enforcement, disrupting the joint session of Congress as lawmakers debated electoral vote challenges before certifying Biden’s election. Five people died, including a Capitol policeman and a woman who was shot dead by law enforcement.
A week later, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for “inciting insurgency” for his role in the armed insurgency.
Read more:‘It was degrading’: Black Capitol detention staff talk about what it was like to clean up mess left by violent pro-Trump white supremacists
Trump had previously made false and baseless accusations of voter fraud and made false claims that Vice President Mike Pence, who oversaw the certification process during the joint session of Congress, could “decertify” the votes and he give a second term.
Other Republicans, including Biggs, Brooks and Gosar, have also come under scrutiny for their language that perpetuates Trump’s false narrative.
The Daily Beast reported that Alexander, a criminal who has gained popularity for supporting and supporting Trump’s election fraud allegations, has since been banned from Twitter, had repeatedly suggested last month that they could resort to violence on January 6, if the votes were approved.
“We’re going to convince them not to certify the January 6 vote by marching hundreds of thousands, if not millions of patriots, to sit butt in Washington and shut this city down, right?” Alexander said at a rally in Arizona. “And if we have to explore options after that… ‘again’. Again!”
Alexander attended a rally the night before the certification vote and led a singing of, “Victory or death!”
Gosar tagged Alexander on several Twitter posts the next morning, which called on Biden to concede the election (which he won by 7 million votes).
Gosar and Alexander also spoke at an event on December 19, The Post reported. Following this event, Gosar called Alexander a “true patriot.” Additionally, a video message from Biggs was shown at the same event where he said he and Brooks would challenge certification on January 6.
Alexander called Biggs a “friend” and a “hero”. Biggs told CNN he only appeared on the video after a request from Gosar staff.
Alexander told the Post that he remained peaceful during the event and that his speeches mentioned peace but were distorted.
However, in one video he posted after the siege he said, “I’m not denying it. I’m not denouncing it.”
Azmi Haroun contributed to this report.
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