Jan. 6 panel chair calls for agencies to redouble efforts to protect officials after Paul Pelosi attack

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, called on federal agencies and law enforcement to redouble their efforts to protect officials in the aftermath of the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 

Thompson, who also serves as the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a release on Friday that the attack on Paul Pelosi is “abhorrent” and his prayers are with him, the House Speaker and their family. 

He said every elected official should be “outraged” by the attack and publicly condemn what happened, regardless of political party. 

“Unfortunately, the attack against Paul Pelosi appears to be a symptom of a much larger problem within our democracy,” Thompson said. 

He said the country has seen an increase in domestic terrorism in part fueled by violent, racist, antisemitic and anti-democratic rhetoric. 

“From Charlottesville to January 6, armed attackers sought to impose their views on their fellow citizens not with their vote, but with their fist,” he said, referencing the insurrection and a 2017 white supremacist rally where a man drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters and killed a woman. 

A man broke into Paul Pelosi’s house and “violently assaulted” him with a hammer early Friday morning. The Speaker was not home at the time, but the man reportedly asked, “Where’s Nancy?” while he was in the house.

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands and is expected to make a full recovery. 

“I call on my colleagues in Congress and elected officials across the nation to put country over party and reject the conspiracy theories that are proving so divisive, despite any perceived political advantage,” Thompson said. 

Politicians from both sides of the political aisle have condemned the attack and expressed wishes for Paul Pelosi’s recovery, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).