New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted from inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday evening that she was “okay” after pro-Trump rioters stormed the building and wreaked havoc during the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Trump supporters broke across police lines and forced their way into the Capitol, where they destroyed and stole property and marched through the hallways and into offices. Lawmakers quickly took cover and evacuated to safety. Just that morning, Trump had stirred up his followers with his continued unfounded conspiracy theories and lies that the election was stolen from him.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she had “barricaded in for several hours” and wrote that the focus must now be “to preserve the integrity of our democracy.”
She then tweeted a single word: Impeach.
Calls to impeach the president for a second time and remove him from office by invoking the 25th Amendment grew loud online. Ocasio-Cortez retweeted California Congressman Ted Lieu, who wrote on social media that Trump should be impeached or removed via the 25th Amendment or “we would have failed our country.”
She also retweeted Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush’s call to introduce a resolution to remove Republican members of Congress “who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election.”
The rest of The Squad also chimed in on the deplorable acts. Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said Trump needed to be impeached because he gave “marching orders” to his followers. Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley called for the House Oversight Committee to start an investigation into the “terrorists acts & those individuals & agencies who enabled them.” Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called Wednesday a “scary wild day for American democracy.”
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as the President and Vice President of the United States on Jan. 20.
