The man who Nancy Pelosi tasked with examining the U.S. Capitol’s security sits on the board of a far-Left Louisiana nonprofit organization that calls for radically dismantling the country’s criminal justice system.
Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore will review the security failures that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. When the speaker announced his appointment on Jan. 15, she called him “a respected leader with experience dealing with crises.”
But Honore’s role within The Foundation For Louisiana will likely draw more scrutiny from Republicans who have already questioned his impartiality.
As of at least June 2018, Honore has served on the board of the group, which seeks to implement “systemic change, a decolonial framework, and an intersectional understanding of systems of oppression,” according to its mission statement.
In June last year, the group honored the anniversary of Angela Davis’s acquittal on Facebook with the hashtags “#rise #resist #justice #freedom.”
Davis, a communist who was arrested as a fugitive in 1970 for her alleged role in assisting a violent attack on a California courthouse that led to four deaths, has become an icon for left-wing revolutionaries. Following her arrest by FBI agents, President Richard Nixon referred to her as a “dangerous terrorist.”
Since 2013, the Foundation for Louisiana has raised over $12 million from contributions and grants. Originally established in 2005 as the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the group later rebranded as a “social justice philanthropic intermediary.”
Much of the money raised by the Foundation for Louisiana has gone to various bail funds, including one called “Operation Restoration.” That group later boasted it spent “around $700,000” to bail out over 170 people from March to July 2020.
The Foundation for Louisiana is headed by Flozell Daniels, whose social media feed routinely labels the United States as violent and white supremacist.
“I see all the tweets about ‘this isn’t my America!’ This domestic terrorism and white supremacist attack is peak America,” Daniels tweeted on Jan. 6. “America’s original creed is violence. We tried to tell y’all. #ListentoBlackFolk.”
Much of Honore’s previous statements echo the language of his colleagues at the Foundation for Louisiana. On Jan. 11, Honore attacked Sen. Josh Hawley for his role in refusing to certify President Biden’s Electoral College victory.
“That little peace of s— with his @Yale law degree should be run out of DC and Disbarred ASAP,” Lt. General Russel Honore tweeted on Jan. 11. That tweet has since been deleted.
During a Thursday appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the Missouri lawmaker responded to Honore’s appointment.
“I’m concerned about what they’re laying the groundwork for here, what Nancy Pelosi is doing. I’m concerned that they continue to treat the Jan. 6 catastrophe, that criminal riot, as an excuse to seize power, to control more power, to step on people’s Second Amendment rights, to take away their First Amendment rights,” Hawley said.
The reappearance of Honore’s tweets drew outrage from other Republicans, including Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who called him “an extreme partisan and should be the LAST person to head up an investigation of what happened at the Capitol on Jan 6.”
As of Friday, Honore still enjoys Pelosi’s support. When asked about his fitness for the job, a spokesman for her office said, “General Honoré is a committed public servant whose name is synonymous with integrity and professionalism.”
“His efforts to review the U.S. Capitol’s security infrastructure, interagency processes and procedures, and command and control have included seeking bipartisan input in order to achieve its mission,” the spokesman said “There is no room for partisanship in the Speaker’s efforts to make the U.S. Capitol a safe place for staff, workers, press and Members.”
Republicans appear primed to continue questioning Honore’s judgment, citing years of statements on social media supporting left-wing political causes.
“It is very disappointing to see Lt. Gen. Honore’s statements waging personal attacks against others, and especially those where he says the United States Capitol Police were ‘stupid’ and ‘complicit’ in the attacks before he’s even started his investigation. Capitol Police officers are heroes, and Whip Scalise wouldn’t be alive without them.” A spokeswoman for House Minority Whip Steve Scalise told the Washington Examiner. “He needs to focus on doing his job and conducting a completely impartial investigation that is focused on facts, and not a prejudged agenda. Our country deserves nothing less than that.”
In a July 2020 tweet, Honore attacked the Trump administration’s decision to deploy federal police officers to Portland, Oregon, following weeks of violent riots and civil disorder.
“Datts BS sir . Only dictator country where the police look like para military,” he said before later calling on Congress to pass a law barring civil and federal officers from wearing military uniforms. “All Cops w AR 15 and M4 is just plain stupid when controlling protest in America, and the Federal Police in Military Camo in a city at night is plain stupid . Federal agency’s have utility uniforms”
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Two months prior, Honore alleged that George Floyd-related demonstrations had been “infiltrated by violent actors” and pleaded for protesters not “be used by extremist groups to cause anarchy in America.”
