Former U.S. Capitol Police Staff Sgt. Aquilino Gonell Joins Civil Rights Groups & Summer Lee’s Call for House Republicans to Reject Election-Denying White Supremacist Antisemite as Speaker

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

Contact: Summerleepress@mail.house.gov

Former U.S. Capitol Police Staff Sgt. Aquilino Gonell Joins Civil Rights Groups & Summer Lee’s Call for House Republicans to Reject Election-Denying White Supremacist Antisemite as Speaker

Lee said “At a moment when our Jewish communities are in so much pain, I am horrified that Republicans are now planning to elect Speaker who has used his official role as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to spread antisemitic tropes and replacement theory online and on national TV—even tweeting ‘Kanye. Elon. Trump’ from the official House Judiciary Committee Account and left the post up for a total of 56 days including after Kanye vowed to go ‘death con 3 on Jewish people.’”

(Washington, DC) – After Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-PA) called on Republicans to withdraw support for Jim Jordan as Speaker ahead of vote, former Capitol Police Sgt Aquilino Gonell who was injured in the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol joined a broad and growing coalition of civil rights organizations and echoed Lee’s call in a statement broadly denouncing Jim Jordan for the Jan. 6th attack on the capitol while the other organizations called him out for his bigoted conspiracies like the great replacement conspiracy theory. They all called on members of congress, especially leadership, to reject supporting Jim Jordan and all of his dangerous rhetoric.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was injured in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol said, “It’s horrifying to think that a man like Jim Jordan, who voted to overturn the results of the elections and helped provoke an insurrection, could be second in line to the presidency. Jim is a material witness to the events before, during and also in the aftermath of January 6. He also openly defied the subpoenas sent to him. How can the American people expect him to faithfully execute/lead his role when he refuses to follow the law? I saw the terror of January 6th myself, the attack on our democracy, and it sickens me that Republicans might pick a leader who ignored and denied the truth of that day. I remember the fear, struggling for breath, and thinking it was my last moment, all for defending our nation’s principles. This is a grave moment for our country, a real eye-opener for every American. We must realize our democracy isn’t just given to us—it’s a treasure we must fiercely protect. Republicans still call themselves the party of law and order…yeah ok. If you still believe that, I have a bridge or snake oil to sell you.”

Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Washington Director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action said: “Jim Jordan embodies the worst and most dangerous impulses of the far right. He has regularly used antisemitic rhetoric including the white supremacist “great replacement” theory. That Jordan is on the precipice of becoming Speaker must serve as a wakeup call: what we may have previously considered ‘fringe’ and hateful views are now fully in the mainstream of our political discourse. Handing this man the Speaker’s gavel can only make things worse for the Jewish community, especially Jews of color, and so many other communities targeted by white supremacy. His ascendency should be terrifying to anyone who cares about democracy, racial justice, human decency, and combating bigotry.”

ADC National Government Affairs and Advocacy Director Chris Habiby said, “Electing Jim Jordan as speaker is an endorsement of decades of the dangerous and hateful rhetoric he has directed towards minorities, including Arab Americans. This would be not only an extremely divisive move, but one that is sure to continue to empower those with the most extreme white supremacist ideologies, sometimes with deadly consequences. Jim Jordan is the antithesis of what America needs in leadership.”

Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs, Western State Center said, “Rep. Jordan’s record of dangerous rhetoric and disregard for democratic norms raises serious concerns about his nomination to the role of Speaker of the House. He not only supported Trump’s efforts to overthrow the will of the people, but he has consistently promoted baseless conspiracy theories like the antisemitic Great Replacement Theory, which has driven repeated acts of racist mass violence. This is particularly dangerous given the increased risk of antisemitic and anti-Muslim violence sparked by the conflict abroad. Our future depends on nominating a Speaker of the House who upholds the principles of justice, fairness, and respect for all. Nominating Rep. Jordan sends a crystal clear and deeply disturbing message about the fate of our democracy. “

According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice said, “Whether his bid for the speakership ends successfully or not, the very notion of Jim Jordan moving into the presidential line of succession should be a frightening prospect for anyone who cares about our democracy. Jim Jordan sought to overturn the 2020 election, has repeatedly embraced the white nationalist and antisemitic “great replacement” theory, and the accompanying “invasion” rhetoric that together have inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks; and his fealty to Donald Trump includes a shared commitment to immigration extremism and policy proposals that are both cruel and unworkable. Jim Jordan’s embrace of extreme white nationalist and antisemitic tropes and conspiracies are not befitting of any Member of Congress, let alone the Speaker of the House. The American people deserve a functioning government, not more of the dangerous nativist politics, embrace of white nationalist conspiracies and anti-democratic extremism that Jim Jordan embodies.” 

Summer Lee said, “At a moment when our Jewish communities are in so much pain, I am horrified that days after attempting to elect a Speaker who spoke at a white supremacist convention hosted by a group whose website said that “Jews will attack us for wanting to restore white America,” Republicans are now planning to elect Speaker who has used his official role as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to spread antisemitic tropes and replacement theory online and on national TV. In response to Kanye wearing a “white lives matter” t-shirt, Jim Jordan used his position as Chair to tweet ‘Kanye. Elon. Trump’ from the official House Judiciary Committee Account and left the post up for a total of 56 days–even after Kanye vowed to go ‘death con 3 on Jewish people.’” Jordan also used his chairmanship and his taxpayer funded platforms to peddle white-supremacist and antisemitic theory replacement theory that motivated the murders of 11 beloved members of my community in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting,10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo, 23 Latino community members in El Paso, and 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch. I will vote for Leader Jeffries and continue my work building bridges between marginalized communities to dismantle the systems of white supremacy enabling violence against our communities.”

Last week, Lee called for Republicans to drop Steve Scalise, pointing to Scalise’ history calling himself “David Duke without the baggage” and speaking at the 2002 International White Supremacist Convention sponsored by a group whose website said that “Jews will attack us for wanting to restore white America and are responsible for the ‘browning’ of America” (more below). 

Background on Jim Jordan: 

·         In 2019, Jim Jordan spread antisemitic tropes on Twitter, referring to Tom Steyer as “Tom $teyer”

·         Jim Jordan has appeared on Fox news – the network peddling Great Replacement Theory – more than any other member of Congress [Media Matters]

·         From asking the Supreme Court to throw out votes to attending a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg, Jim Jordan tried to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results.

·         Jordan voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and finish the coup on the US Capitol attempted by an armed mob of white supremacists and antisemites on Jan 6

·         Jordan refused to condemn colleagues Marjorie Taylor Green’s vile conspiracy theory about “Jewish Space Lasers” or Mary Miller after she said “Hitler was right on one thing” speaking in front of the Capitol to a mob of armed white supremacists and Neo-Nazis on January 6. 

·         Under Jim Jordan’s leadership, the House Judiciary Committee Tweeted “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” showing support for Kanye amid his vile anti semitic remarks, leaving the post up for a total of 56 days—even after Kanye vowed to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

·         Oct. 3: Ye appears at Paris fashion week wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt alongside Candace Owens. Models at his Yeezy show walk the runway wearing “White Lives Matter” shirts. 

·         Oct. 6: In the midst of the backlash, the twitter account of the Republican House Judiciary Committee chaired by Jim Jordan tweets out “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” The account is run by the staff of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

·         Oct. 6: Ye appears on Tucker Carlson’s show and claims the “White Lives Matter” shirts were “a gut instinct, a connection to God and just brilliance,” yet the tweet from Jordan’s committee remained.

·         Oct. 7: Ye suggests to Diddy, a fellow rapper that he is being controlled by Jewish people, telling him that he will use him “as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war.” Instagram suspends Ye’s account, leading him to move his communication to Twitter and the Jordan’s GOP House judiciary committee still left their tweet up showing support to Kanye.

·         Oct. 8: Ye then tweets that he is “a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” Twitter suspended Kanye’s account, but the account controlled by Jim Jordan continued to leave their tweet up advocating for Ye.

·         Throughout the entire month of October, as Ye claimed that a Jewish doctor had misdiagnosed his mental illness; repeated stereotypes about Jews controlling finance and the media; and refused to apologize for his remarks or disavow anti-Semitism, the tweet from Jim Jordan’s Judiciary account remained.

·         The tweet remained for 56 DAYS until mass amounts of internal pressure led Jordan to take it down after Kanye said “Well, I see good things about Hitler also,” later adding, “I like Hitler.” The rapper also said “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”

·         Jim Jordan has espoused dangerous anti-immigrant falsehoods on numerous occasions and has echoed Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory rhetoric during his Committee hearings this year. The Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory was the basis for attacks against the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, the Latino community in El Paso, and the Black community in Buffalo… etc.

· Jordan used his position as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to peddle Replacement theory in a Judiciary Hearing: “I think it’s intentional. … It seems deliberate, it seems premeditated, it seems intentional…make no mistake about it, the Biden administration is carrying out its plan.”

·         1/4/22 – Twitter/Fox News Clip: “trying to let illegal immigrants vote and already doing that in some locales”

·         1/21/22 –  Twitter: “The number of people waiting for immigration court decisions is greater than the population of Philadelphia.”

·         1/25/22 – Twitter: “1.9 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the southern border in 2021. That’s larger than the population of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio combined.”

·         1/26/22 – Twitter: “178,000 illegal immigrants at the southern border in December 2021. That’s enough to fill up Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati nearly three times.”

·         3/16/22 – Twitter: “There were 164,973 illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border in February. That’s more than the population of Dayton, Ohio.”

·         4/6/22 – Twitter: “Border Patrol is averaging nearly 7000 illegal migrant encounters at the southern border per day. That’s over 200,000 per month, which is larger than the population of Akron, Ohio.

·         4/21/22 – Twitter: “Border Patrol encountered 221,803 illegal migrants at the southern border in March. That’s more people than the population of Dayton, Ohio and Canton, Ohio. Combined.”

·         4/28/22 – Twitter: “The Biden Administration released at least 800,000 illegal immigrants into the United States in the last 14 months.That’s larger than the populations of each of these states: North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska.”

·         5/2/22 – Twitter: “As many as 18,000 illegal aliens could cross the southern border daily once Title 42 is lifted. That’s equates to roughly 6.5 million per year, which is more than the population of 33 states.”

·         6/17/22 – Twitter: “Border Patrol encountered 239,416 illegal aliens along the southern border in May. The largest number EVER. And more than the entire population of Richmond, Virginia.”

·         8/16/22 – Twitter: “Nearly 2 MILLION illegal aliens have crossed the southern border in FY2022. That’s more than the population of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio combined.”

·         9/21/22 – Twitter: “Two million illegal alien encounters at the southern border in FY 2022. That’s more than the population of Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio COMBINED.”

·          9/6/22 – Campaign Email” “end the invasion”

·         12/15/22 – Twitter: “Title 42 ends on December 20th. After that, expect nearly 14,000 illegal aliens to cross our border each day. That would equate to over 400,000 illegal aliens in a single month. That’s larger than the population of New Orleans.”

·         2/1/23 – “The Biden Border Crisis I” Judiciary Committee Hearing – claimed that the border crisis is “intentional” which is an implicit reference to the replacement conspiracy. 3:36-3:37

·         1/4/23 – Twitter: “72,000 illegal aliens evaded border patrol in December. That’s larger than the population of Canton, Ohio. Where did they go? And why doesn’t Joe Biden care?”

·         1/23/23 – Twitter: “At least, 1.2 MILLION illegal aliens have escaped Border Patrol since Joe Biden took office. That’s more than the entire population of Cleveland, Ohio and the State of Alaska combined.”

·         7/7/22 – Twitter: “The border crisis is intentional. The energy crisis is intentional. The inflation crisis is intentional.”

·         5/17/22 – Twitter: “234,088 illegal aliens encountered at the southern border in April. The highest number in DHS history. The Biden Administration won’t stop the border crisis. Because it’s intentional.”

·         5/2/23 – Twitter: “The White House wants you to believe that illegal immigration is down 90%, despite the fact that there were over 2.3 million illegal alien encounters at the southern border last year. More than DOUBLE the population of Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.”

·         6/12/23 – Twitter: “2 million illegal aliens per year. Larger than the population of Nebraska. And what’s Joe Biden doing? Nothing.”

In addition, Jim Jordan:

·         Helped cover up college wrestlers he was coaching being abused by the team doctor.

·         Accused a ten-year-old rape victim of lying to get an abortion and refused to apologize when her rapist was found  https://t.co/z2EKFwswwU 

·         Introduced a bill to ban abortion nationwide 

·         Voted to extend a government shutdown longer than 16 days in 2013

·         Voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and finish the coup attempted by an armed mob of white supremacists and antisemites on Jan 6

·         has more Fox News weekday appearances than any other member of Congress 

·         asked for a pardon for his role in the insurrection on the very same body he now wants to lead.

·         Cassidy Hutchinson said “Jim [Jordan] can’t be trusted with the Constitution. He can’t be trusted to represent.” 

·         Liz Cheney slammed Jim Jordan, who has put his name in the ring to become the next Speaker, saying that “no one knew more about what Trump had planned for January 6th” than him.”  

·         Wants to ban same sex marriage 

·         Sought to overturn Trump pardon for election rimes 

·         Never passed a single bill in 16 years in office 

Background on Steve Scalise –  who remains on Republican’s House leadership team as whip despite his failed run for Speaker – has a history of ties to vile white supremacy and antisemitism including: 

·         Scalise called himself “David Duke without the baggage” 

·         In 2002, Scalise spoke at a conference sponsored and hosted by an anti-Semitic, white supremacist group called “the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO)” run by the former KKK Grand Wizard and labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group’s vile anti-semetic, racist conspiracies and tropes on its own website include: 

·         The Jewish media and Jews in general will attack us for wanting to restore White America. The Jews are the enemy of the White race, and they are largely responsible for the ‘browning’ of America. The Jews want to rule over a multi-racial brown America that is too ignorant to ever rebel against them.” — Jeff Davis, whitecivilrights.com, Aug. 17, 2000

·         “The beautiful Germany of the 1930s with blonde children happily running through every village has been replaced with a multi-racial cesspool. Out of work Africans can be seen shuffling along the same streets, which used to be clean and safe in the days of the National Socialists. One day, people in Germany will grow tired of the politically correct police state that is destroying their lives. They will recover their national pride and start speaking the truth about their past regardless of what the militant lesbians or thought police tell them.”— Ian Mosley, whitecivilrights.com, Oct. 30, 2007

·         “So, the unvarnished truth is that we suffered the terror of September 11 because of our support of the criminal policies of Israel. We have let our country be controlled by a foreign lobby that has worked against the best interests of the American people. Israel has time and again proven it is not really our friend. It has conducted covert terrorist activities against America such as the Lavon affair in Egypt. It has deliberately attacked the USS Liberty with unmarked fighters and torpedo boats causing 174 American casualties in an attempt to blame Egypt and garner American support during the war of 1967. It has spied on us and stolen our greatest secrets, such as in the Jonathan Pollard affair. It has sold secret American technologies to the Communist Chinese. It has stolen nuclear materials from the United States. It has tricked America into bombing other nations such as in the attack on Libya in 1986. I could go on and on about Israel’s treachery against America.” — David Duke, 2001 essay

·         https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/31/politics/scalise-scandal-explainer/index.html

·         https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/euro

·         https://cenlamar.com/2014/12/28/house-majority-whip-steve-scalise-was-reportedly-an-honored-guest-at-2002-international-white-supremacist-convention/

Lee represents the community still reeling from the deadliest anti-semitic attack  Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting. Earlier this year, Lee delivered a powerful speech on the House Floor honoring the 11 Congregants of Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life Congregation in her district murdered in the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting after a verdict was reached in the trial, uplifting the trauma felt by Pittsburgh’s Jewish community through the trial, and calling for action dismantle great replacement theory, antisemitism, and systems of white supremacy threatening marginalized communities. 

Lee recently co-led the introduction of the Disarm Hate Act toprotect communities against the scourge of anti-Blackness, rising antisemitism, islamophobia, anti-asian and anti-trans hate crimes by addressing the deadly gap in our federal laws and keeping firearms out of the hands of individuals convicted of misdemeanor-level hate crimes or those who have received enhanced sentences due to hate or bias motivation. This is a critical step towards safeguarding our communities against gun violence and ensuring minoritized and vulnerable folks don’t have to live in constant fear.

Lee is working to secure $1 millions in community project funding (formerly known as earmarks) to help the Tree of Life Foundation educate against antisemitism and over $500,000 for 10/27 Healing Partnership respond to the ongoing trauma that increased with the trial. The House Appropriations Committee this Summer passed bills including this funding introduced by Lee, which now awaits passage.