A US Congressman has been photographed on his knees at 1am, helping to clean up the mess left in the Capitol building by rioters.
The image of Congressman Andy Kim was tweeted by a fellow Representative, Tom Malinowski, who said:
"At 1am last night, @RepMalinowski and I walked the Capitol to thank staff, police, and guardsmen and women for their service on a horrifying day. In a quiet Rotunda, we found our friend @RepAndyKimNJ alone, on his knees, picking up garbage left by the insurgents."
At 1am last night, @RepMalinowski and I walked the Capitol to thank staff, police, and guardsmen and women for their service on a horrifying day. In a quiet Rotunda, we found our friend @RepAndyKimNJ alone, on his knees, picking up garbage left by the insurgents.
— Rep. Dean Phillips 🇺🇸 (@RepDeanPhillips) January 7, 2021
📸:@andyharnik pic.twitter.com/AnYj3rSogb
Representative Tom Malinowski, who was with Phillips, told reporters:
"I think it was 1 in the morning. There were a couple national guardsman, and I noticed somebody on his hands and knees leaning under a bench to pick something up, and it was Andy all by himself, just quietly removing debris and putting it in a plastic bag. He was clearly not doing it for an audience."
The riots, for which President Donald Trump has now been impeached, were sparked off after a large crowd of Trump supporters gathered outside the Capitol building in Washington DC and heard Trump make a speech in which he yet again put forward the baseless claim that the November presidential election was rigged. During the battle that followed, 5 people were killed, including a police-officer who was smashed on the head with a fire-extinguisher. Rioters remained in the building for around 5 hours, during which time they vandalised the building and much of its contents.
Andy Kim, speaking to reporters who asked about him helping the clean-up operation said:
"I was just really affected emotionally. I felt this kind of heightened, kind of supercharged kind of patriotism that I just felt take over. When you see something you love that's broken, you want to fix it. I love the Capitol. I'm honored to be there. This building is extraordinary, and the rotunda in particular is just awe-inspiring. How many countless generations have been inspired in that room? It really broke my heart and I just felt compelled to do something. What else could I do?"
He added:
"I feel blessed to have this opportunity as a son of immigrants to be able to serve in Congress. Democracy to me is this place of opportunity that is affording me a chance to do something extraordinary. I represent a district where the vast majority of people do not look like me. But they've voted for me twice now to be their representative, and that's a beautiful thing. There are others who seek to make me seem like an 'other' whether it's because of skin color, or gender, or sexuality. But that's not what this is about. We're all Americans."
President Trump now faces a Senate trial after he leaves office on the 20th of January.
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