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Water bottles, clothing, Trump flags and even an American flag littered the floor inside the U.S. Capitol after a mob supporting President Donald Trump ransacked the building.
New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim walked amid the mess shortly after he voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump – and felt the weight of the day bear upon him – when something spurred him on cleaning up debris.
“I was just really affected emotionally. I felt that kind of exaggerated, supercharged patriotism that I just felt invaded, ”he said in an interview.
It was then that he noticed that the police were putting pizza boxes in garbage bags, so he asked for one too and started cleaning up.
“When you see something you love that’s broken, you want to fix it. I love the Capitol. I am honored to be there, ”he said. “This building is extraordinary and the rotunda in particular is simply impressive. How many countless generations have been inspired in this room?
“It really broke my heart and I felt compelled to do something. … What else could I do?
The image of Kim crouched down cleaning up the trash closed a violent and historic day that saw an angry mob walk through police lines, smash windows and open doors as they besieged the building, shortly after after Trump said at a rally that they should use force. And fight against congressional certification of Biden’s victory.
Kim, a second-term Democrat from a district Trump won twice, was not looking for publicity, according to a colleague who ran into him and didn’t recognize him at first.
“I think it was 1 a.m.,” fellow New Jersey Democratic representative Tom Malinowski said. “There was a couple of National Guardsmen and I noticed someone on his hands and knees leaning under a bench to pick up something and it was Andy all alone, quietly removing the debris and putting it in a plastic bag. . He clearly wasn’t doing it for an audience.
“It was the most moving moment of the long night for me.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said Kim “represents the best of New Jersey and our nation.”
Tom MacArthur, the former New Jersey GOP rep whom Kim beat in a close race in 2018, was encouraged by his successor’s action. It was MacArthur who had helped guide the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act in the House and who stood with Trump and others in the White House in celebration, though the effort failed. . Kim ran in part on the popularity of Barack Obama’s health care law.
Kim represents District 3, which stretches from the Philadelphia suburb along the Delaware River in the west, through the pine barrens of New Jersey to the waterfront in Ocean County.
He launched his campaign in 2017, returning to live in the southern New Jersey city he grew up in after a career in Washington and overseas.
A University of Chicago graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Kim served from 2013 to 2015 as the Iraqi director of the Obama administration’s National Security Council.
Previously, he was Director of Iraq at the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was also a civil adviser to Generals David Petraeus and John Allen in Afghanistan.
The son of Korean immigrant parents, he became the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in Congress following his election in 2018.
On Thursday, he reflected on how he, a person of color, was cleaning up after people who waved white supremacist symbols like the Confederate flag during the melee. He said he hadn’t considered racing at the time.
But he thought for a moment and added, “It’s so difficult because we don’t look at and see ourselves as Americans first, whether it’s race, ethnicity, religion or party.” policy that prevents us from doing so. to have this common identity which forged our country and which is necessary for us to continue.
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