Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips apologized on Thursday to his colleagues of color for having “privilege” during the Jan. 6 Capitol siege as lawmakers recounted their experiences of that day.
House members took time to speak on the event, which saw thousands of Trump supporters clash with law enforcement and breach the U.S. Capitol. Many spoke of fear or hiding from the mob, but Phillips was keen on issuing an expression of regret.
“I’m not here this evening just to seek sympathy or to tell my story,” he said. “Rather, to make a public apology. For, recognizing that we were sitting ducks in this room as the chamber was about to be breached, I screamed to my colleagues to follow me, to follow me across the aisle to the Republican side of the chamber so that we could blend in. So that we could blend in. For I felt that the insurrectionists who were trying to break down the door, right here, would spare us if they simply mistook us for Republicans.”
He continued: “But within moments, I recognized that blending in was not an option available to my colleagues of color. So, I’m here tonight to say to my brothers and sisters in Congress and all around our country, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. For I had never understood, really understood, what privilege really means. It took a violent mob of insurrectionists and a lightning bolt moment in this very room. But now I know, believe me, I really know.”
New York Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, who organized the collective speeches on the House Floor, praised Phillips’s words as an “extraordinarily powerful account.” The Empire State Democrat has come under fire after she posted several videos reliving her “very close encounter where” she “thought [she] was going to die” after it came to light that she was in the Cannon office building, which is across from the Capitol, at the time of the riot.
“All of these thoughts come rushing to you,” she said during an Instagram livestream. “I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of the day — and not just in a general sense but also in a very, very specific sense.”
Ocasio-Cortez also said in a separate video, “This was the moment I thought everything was over. I mean, I thought I was going to die,” in reference to a police officer entering her office unexpectedly.
New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat recalled a “horrifying” scene on Jan. 6.
“Furniture stuck up against the wall, and bloodstains right outside where someone was shot,” he said. “This is a traumatic experience for all of us, on both sides of the aisle and for our nation.”
Five people died during the riot. U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was fatally injured during the siege. He received the rare tribute of lying in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda this week before his cremated remains were sent to Arlington National Cemetery to be laid to rest. Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while she attempted to climb through a window into the Speaker’s Lobby. Three others died from “medical emergencies,” according to officials.
Federal authorities are pursuing upwards of 400 suspected insurrectionists, at least 150 of whom have been apprehended so far. The FBI has received over 200,000 tips revealing information about possible rioters.
