A day before the Capitol riot, Republican congressman Barry Loudermilk led a tour of the building. According to the committee investigating the attack, at least one person on the tour later attended a Trump rally and march towards the Capitol. The Capitol complex has a stairwell and a security station.
There is no evidence that anyone rioted in the Capitol. There is no evidence that Loudermilk was aware that any of the people on the tour wanted to commit violence.
Loudermilk has changed his explanation multiple times. His shifting story didn't happen in a vacuum either, it came in wake of a stunning allegation leveled by one of his colleagues and as the January 6 committee continued to investigate.
Loudermilk gave an interview on the day of the riot. As he spoke, he was still in a secure location. His comments were not widely known until months later.
About a dozen people wanted to come by and visit, we had them in our office, they were peaceful people, and we met at the church. They wanted to be up here as if it was another rally.
Loudermilk's staff checked on the tour participants to make sure they were okay. They went back down the mall to escape the crowd when they saw what was happening.
On the day before the riot, a New Jersey Democrat requested an investigation into the suspicious behavior and access given to visitors. She led 34 House Democrats in writing to the board that oversees the US Capitol Police, accusing them of seeing a high number of outside groups in the complex. The Capitol was mostly closed to the public due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
There is a lot of speculation about what tours took place and what members of Congress did for the tours.
The only way to get groups in was official business visits, according to a former Democratic staffer.
According to The Hill, Republicans on the House Administration Committee, which Loudermilk serves on, have concluded there is no proof of what she said. "We have reviewed the security footage from the Capitol Complex during the relevant period preceding January 6, 2021, and we know it does not support these repeated Democrat accusations about so-called'reconnaissance' tours," wrote Rep.
In a denial that would later take on renewed relevance, an unnamed GOP aide said, "There were no tours, no large groups, no one with a hat on." There isn't anything in there that would fit the depiction in the letter.
Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney wrote to Loudermilk requesting information about the tour. The Republicans' denial was directly contradicted by the Select Committee's review of evidence.
Loudermilk told reporters that a family meeting with a member of Congress in the House Office Buildings is not a suspicious group.
Loudermilk said that the committee made false accusations about the family because they were awful. Some people wore baseball caps. The GOP's broader denial letter was not approved by the Georgia Republican.
Loudermilk said that he and his wife were in the crosshairs of the January 6 committee. What's the reason? On January 5th, I took a family with young children and their guests to lunch in a cafeteria in one of the House office buildings.
The Capitol Police Board didn't view any of the activities they observed as suspicious after watching the tour footage, according to Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger. In a letter dated June 13, Manger wrote to Loudermilk that there were at least 12 people on the tour.
There is evidence that one of the people on the tour went to the Capitol. The same person made threats about Pelosi and other Democrats. Someone on the tour may have taken pictures of a stairway. A person takes pictures near a security station. The committee said the images clearly show people on the tour wearing hats with the words "Make America Great Again" written on them.
The footage they released is shown here.
—January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 15, 2022
Loudermilk did not reply to Insider's request for comment.
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