Golden State Today

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) called the strict security measures imposed in the District of Columbia in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach part of a move meant to portray Republicans as “dangerous domestic terrorist threat.”

Nunes was responding when asked on Fox News if the acts of violence in January at the U.S Capitol warrant such security measures. 

“No,” he replied. “This is nothing compared to the threats we’ve seen over the last two decades since 9/11/2001 of radical Islamic potential attacks on the Capitol and the targeting of politicians and other government buildings,” Nunes said, The Epoch Times reported. 

“This is a Hollywood production scene,” he added, “This is all about narrative building. What they want to do is they want to label every conservative and Republican across this country as some type of dangerous domestic terrorist threat.” 

“I think it’s going to blow up in their face, I don’t think it’s going to work. It looks ridiculous. It looks worse than a third-world country,” Nunes said during the interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News, on Sunday.

Nunes is on the growing list of Republican legislators who are against the security measures which include metal detectors, National Guard troops deployed in the city, seven-foot high fencing and barbed-wire around the Capitol complex.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in an op-ed published by Fox News, called the fence an insult and urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to remove it.

“There is no excuse for razor wire to be blocking the American people from our Capitol. It is the People’s House. The fencing is more than an eyesore—it is an insult,” he wrote, as reported by The Epoch Times. 

“American conservatives, according to the left, are so dangerous we must keep the National Guard in our nation’s capital and surround the Capitol Building with razor wire and fencing—never mind that the group of thugs who attacked the Capitol in January in no way represent the 74 million people who voted Republican in 2020,” he added.

The fence was erected prior to the Jan. 20 inauguration amid fear of further violent protests.The acting Chief of Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, has recommended permanent fencing as a way of tightening security. 

“I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol,” she said, according to The Epoch Times. 

Meanwhile more than 40 Republicans have written a joint letter calling on the removal of the fence. 

“We write with concerns about the security measures and enhanced fencing around the U.S. Capitol even though high profile events like the inauguration are over,” they wrote, as reported by The Epoch Times. “In particular, we are concerned with recent reports that the fencing surrounding the Capitol may become permanent.”

“It’s time for healing and it’s time for the removal of the fencing so the nation may move forward,” they said in the letter.