A California GOP leader has resigned from his positions in the California Republican Assembly (CRA) after video footage showed him bragging about breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the U.S. Capitol riot.
The CRA, a Republican volunteer organization, confirmed to ABC affiliate KXTV on Thursday that Jorge Riley resigned from his position as corresponding secretary for the group's state board and as president of the Sacramento chapter.
Riley uploaded more than 100 photos and videos to his personal Facebook page that showed him actively participating in January 6's assault on the Capitol. At 2:21 p.m., Riley wrote, "Hey We're storming the Capitol...what are you doing?"
In a video posted to Reddit, Riley answers the cameraman's questions outside the Capitol.
"We breached over there, I think. We broke windows. We went into the door.... We pushed our way into Nancy Pelosi's office. We just kept going further and further," he said in the video.
"We were sitting in there, yelling, 'F--- Nancy Pelosi,'" he added.
Riley described his "badass" involvement as a "mostly peaceful takeover of the Capitol."
In a statement about the storming of the federal building, the CRA condemned lawlessness, calling it "not an appropriate way to seek redress from our government and is inconsistent with the values of CRA."
The CRA said that while the organization was not involved in the riot, "we have come to learn that a member of CRA did take part in the events at the Capitol. CRA President Johnnie Morgan has demanded that the member, Jorge Riley of Sacramento, resign his membership in CRA immediately as it is important to have leaders whose actions exemplify positive engagement in the civil governance process. If he does not resign, we will seek his expulsion from the organization."
In the video shared on social media, Riley is also heard saying that while he was pepper-sprayed three times, the Capitol police he encountered were "nice."
Many have compared the police's response to the crowd at the Capitol to the police brutality that racial justice protesters encountered last summer.
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she is suing the New York City Police Department after an investigation into its handling of the Black Lives Matter protests found "egregious abuse of police power, rampant excessive use of force and leadership unable and unwilling to stop it."
In the video of Riley, he says, "The cops were very nice to us. The cops did not want to be against us. We had communication on both sides that we were not upset with them. No cops were hurt."
The violent attack on the congressional building resulted in five deaths, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. The FBI announced on Friday that it is investigating 37 people in connection with his death.
Additional footage from the day's event shows rioters attacking police with Mace and batons. One viral video captured an officer being crushed by a door as the crowd stormed the building.
Newsweek reached out to Riley for comment but did not hear back before publication.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
