A Reuters photographer says he overheard pro-Trump insurrectionists saying they wanted to hang Mike Pence at the Capitol
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A Reuters photographer said Friday that he overheard at least three pro-Trump insurrectionists at the US Capitol this week say they wanted to find Vice President Mike Pence and hang him.
"I heard at least 3 different rioters at the Capitol say that they hoped to find Vice President Mike Pence and execute him by hanging him from a Capitol Hill tree as a traitor," the photographer, Jim Bourg, tweeted. "It was a common line being repeated. Many more were just talking about how the VP should be executed."
The riot erupted Wednesday as Congress was counting electoral votes and debating Republican challenges to some battleground states' votes for Joe Biden. The pro-Trump mob breached barriers at the Capitol, broke into the building, and ransacked lawmakers' offices as police officers frantically evacuated Pence and senior lawmakers.At a rally before the joint session, President
"If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency," he added. "Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!"
Pence has no such legal or constitutional authority; he released a statement acknowledging that minutes before Congress convened on Wednesday afternoon. "Some believe that as Vice President, I should be able to accept or reject electoral votes unilaterally. Others believe that electoral votes should never be challenged in a Joint Session of Congress," he said. "After a careful study of our Constitution, our laws, and our history, I believe neither view is correct."Trump vented on Twitter, saying the vice president lacked the "courage" to do what was necessary. The insurrectionists who later laid siege to the Capitol could be heard shouting "where's Mike Pence," a source close to the vice president told CNN on Thursday.
The source added that the president didn't bother checking on Pence's or his family's safety after unleashing the mob on the Capitol.
Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma told the Tulsa World that Pence was furious with Trump in the wake of the riot."I've known Mike Pence forever," Inhofe said. "I've never seen Pence as angry as he was today."
Trump hasn't seemed too concerned about tensions with the vice president. After Pence refused to block Congress' certification of Biden's victory, he reportedly told Pence, "I don't want to be your friend."
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