A Democratic congresswoman from Missouri sparked a backlash over the weekend when she wrote in support of rioters at a St. Louis jail.
Inmates at the City Justice Center broke windows, started fires and tossed debris onto the sidewalk for hours beginning early Saturday morning after a prisoner and a guard got into a scuffle.
The unrest continued until guards using tear gas took back control of the facility.
“’A riot is the language of the unheard,’” Rep. Cori Bush wrote, quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“I want to talk to my constituents in the window. Their lives and their rights must be protected,” Bush said. “My team and I are working to ensure that the urgent needs of people who are incarcerated are not ignored.”
One of the Twitter users ripping Bush questioned her reaction, given what she said after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed past law-enforcement officials and entered the federal building, ransacking congressional offices and causing lawmakers to flee to safe locations.
“Exactly a month ago you were saying riots were dangerous and a threat to democracy. Good to know that riots are OK now,” posted Naomi Mathew.
Another critic, DonTacoVII, tweeted the same sentiment.
“Hmm so the ‘riot’ on the capitol building is not included in your assessment? Seems like people on both sides feel they have not been properly represented,” the post said.
Bush had blamed Trump when she previously commented on the Capitol assault.
“I’m in the Capitol. I’m safe, and my team and I are sheltering in place,” the rep wrote at the time. “The President of the United States has incited a riot that has now stormed the Capitol.
“There are rioters roaming the halls of the Capitol. I saw them with my own eyes. Our country deserves better.”
