Republican senator refuses to discuss new footage of MAGA rioters smashing up his office
New footage shows insurrectionists on January 6 destroying the office of Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID). However, the conservative Republican has nothing to say about it when pressed by reporters, as NBC News revealed on Thursday.
"Video shows a rioter — who has pleaded guilty to driving a stun gun into a police officer's neck, nearly killing him — smashing out Risch's window overlooking the Washington Monument and the national mall in an attempt to let more rioters into the building," reported Ryan J. Reilly and Sahil Kapur. "Additional video released this week shows Risch's trashed desk, including what looks like a framed campaign image bearing his last name." That rioter, Daniel Rodriguez, boasted openly to his friends that he "Tazzzzed the f**k out of the blue" and now faces a likely sentence of 7-10 years in prison.
But Risch, who represents a state where Trump remains highly popular, didn't want to comment on the matter.
"A review of Risch's public statements on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot show no indication that he has ever mentioned what happened to his office that day. Asked by NBC News this week about his office being trashed and told about the new footage of rioters in his hideaway, Risch demurred," said the report. "'I don't do interviews on Jan. 6, but thanks,' Risch said. Asked again if he had a response to the newly released footage, the senator said only: 'Thanks for asking.'"
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Rodriguez was not the only rioter involved in the invasion of Risch's office. Richard Avirett, a Florida firearms instructor and Marine veteran, was arrested by the FBI this week thanks in part to exclusive Raw Story reporting in 2021 that matched images of him on Capitol security footage to his LInkedIn page.
At the time of the attack, many Republican lawmakers spoke out furiously about the matter, but several have since changed their tune and downplayed the events of that day — including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who repeatedly referred to the attack as "terrorism" before giving a groveling on-air public apology to Fox News' Tucker Carlson for using that word.
