Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks has made a name for himself in several ways—it’s just not a name that people generally say in public. Brooks was the guy who tried to explain away rising sea levels by saying that rocks are falling into the ocean. Brooks was also the guy who called on Congress to impeach President Hillary Clinton, without bothering to wait for the election. Brooks explained this last position eloquently by saying, “She probably has committed an impeachable offense, therefore she probably should be impeached.” Probably.
Naturally, Brooks was one of the first to flock to Trump’s banner, and consistently outdid even himself when searching for ways to be ever more … Brooksy. That included on Jan. 6, when Brooks took the rally stage in a yellow and black windbreaker that he later explained was being worn to cover up the fact that he was also wearing tactical armor. For reasons.
No one who spoke on Jan. 6 did a better job than Brooks in directly telling the insurrectionist mob to get down to the Capitol and start insurrecting. “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” said Brooks. “Our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives ... So I have a question for you. Are you willing to do the same?” Brooks then repeatedly shouted at the crowd, “Will you fight for America?” before saying, “We, American patriots are going to come right at them!”
That speech earned Brooks a lawsuit from Rep. Eric Swalwell in which the Jan. 6 attack was described as “a direct and foreseeable consequence” of Brook’s lies about the election and his “express calls for violence at the rally.” Following that lawsuit, Brooks then spent weeks dodging process servers while trying to get the Department of Justice to stop the suit. They didn’t.
But today Brooks surfaced back home in Alabama where he took the time to express his agreement with another person who had acted just as responsibly as the representative: would-be truck bomber Floyd Ray Roseberry.
Roseberry surrendered to Metro D.C. Police officers on Thursday afternoon after spending several hours inside his truck, which was parked on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress. Though it’s unclear that Roseberry really had an idea where he was, as in a rambling video posted to his Facebook page he said, “There’s a capitol here, and another capitol over there.” Roseberry livestreamed his bomb threats on Facebook for hours, rambling about everything from health care to Afghanistan to restoring Trump to power, before someone at the social media platform eventually thought to pull the plug. Though it all, the Big Lie about the 2020 election was a central part of his concerns, as Roseberry repeatedly called on President Joe Biden to step aside and let Trump back into the White House—not least of all, so that Trump could pardon Roseberry.
Whether Roseberry ever had one functioning bomb, much less the five he claimed, remains unclear. What is clear is that Rep. Mo Brooks sure does sympathize with pickup-driving white boys who want to blow up the nation’s capital.
In a statement issued shortly after Roseberry’s surrender, Brooks claimed that he was “monitoring the situation,” then went on to claim that the would-be bomber’s “motivation is not yet publicly known.” Other than the fact that Roseberry had spent hours explaining every facet of his motivation to the public. So maybe Brooks wasn’t so much monitoring, as just seeing a guy in a pickup threatening Washington and deciding that he liked that action.
In any case, just because he claimed not to know why some white guy named Floyd was in D.C. threatening to blow up the city with a whole mess of bombs, that didn’t mean Brooks wasn’t ready to jump on board and toss some support to his cause. Of course not. If anyone has a plan to wreck the American government, Mo Brooks is there.
“Generally speaking,” wrote Brooks, “I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom, and the very fabric of American society.”
With that typically moderate opening, Brooks followed up by saying that “the way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 election” before ending with “Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk.”
So, according to Brooks, the terrorist bomber was trying to take down American democracy using the wrong tools … but he completely sympathizes with the bomber’s motives.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, the process servers did eventually track down Mo’s wife.
Naturally, Brooks was one of the first to flock to Trump’s banner, and consistently outdid even himself when searching for ways to be ever more … Brooksy. That included on Jan. 6, when Brooks took the rally stage in a yellow and black windbreaker that he later explained was being worn to cover up the fact that he was also wearing tactical armor. For reasons.
No one who spoke on Jan. 6 did a better job than Brooks in directly telling the insurrectionist mob to get down to the Capitol and start insurrecting. “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass,” said Brooks. “Our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, their fortunes and sometimes their lives ... So I have a question for you. Are you willing to do the same?” Brooks then repeatedly shouted at the crowd, “Will you fight for America?” before saying, “We, American patriots are going to come right at them!”
That speech earned Brooks a lawsuit from Rep. Eric Swalwell in which the Jan. 6 attack was described as “a direct and foreseeable consequence” of Brook’s lies about the election and his “express calls for violence at the rally.” Following that lawsuit, Brooks then spent weeks dodging process servers while trying to get the Department of Justice to stop the suit. They didn’t.
But today Brooks surfaced back home in Alabama where he took the time to express his agreement with another person who had acted just as responsibly as the representative: would-be truck bomber Floyd Ray Roseberry.
Roseberry surrendered to Metro D.C. Police officers on Thursday afternoon after spending several hours inside his truck, which was parked on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress. Though it’s unclear that Roseberry really had an idea where he was, as in a rambling video posted to his Facebook page he said, “There’s a capitol here, and another capitol over there.” Roseberry livestreamed his bomb threats on Facebook for hours, rambling about everything from health care to Afghanistan to restoring Trump to power, before someone at the social media platform eventually thought to pull the plug. Though it all, the Big Lie about the 2020 election was a central part of his concerns, as Roseberry repeatedly called on President Joe Biden to step aside and let Trump back into the White House—not least of all, so that Trump could pardon Roseberry.
Whether Roseberry ever had one functioning bomb, much less the five he claimed, remains unclear. What is clear is that Rep. Mo Brooks sure does sympathize with pickup-driving white boys who want to blow up the nation’s capital.
In a statement issued shortly after Roseberry’s surrender, Brooks claimed that he was “monitoring the situation,” then went on to claim that the would-be bomber’s “motivation is not yet publicly known.” Other than the fact that Roseberry had spent hours explaining every facet of his motivation to the public. So maybe Brooks wasn’t so much monitoring, as just seeing a guy in a pickup threatening Washington and deciding that he liked that action.
In any case, just because he claimed not to know why some white guy named Floyd was in D.C. threatening to blow up the city with a whole mess of bombs, that didn’t mean Brooks wasn’t ready to jump on board and toss some support to his cause. Of course not. If anyone has a plan to wreck the American government, Mo Brooks is there.
“Generally speaking,” wrote Brooks, “I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom, and the very fabric of American society.”
With that typically moderate opening, Brooks followed up by saying that “the way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 election” before ending with “Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk.”
So, according to Brooks, the terrorist bomber was trying to take down American democracy using the wrong tools … but he completely sympathizes with the bomber’s motives.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, the process servers did eventually track down Mo’s wife.