On the five-year anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi confronted a group of demonstrators comprised of pardoned Jan. 6, 2021 rioters and their supporters outside the U.S. Capitol, causing an exchange of words and police intervention.
In videos circulated online, Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) was met by a group of protestors on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, some of whom are believed to be pardoned rioters, who called him things like a “fraud” and “traitor.” One protester was heard asking Suozzi, “How do you feel [with] the power of the American people surrounding you?”
Suozzi approached the protestors and said, “How do you feel about beating up police officers? How do you feel about tasing police officers? How do you feel about committing crimes?”
“Our founding fathers would have dealt with you differently. We were very reserved on Jan. 6,” one member of the crowd said to Suozzi.
Suozzi was eventually escorted from the crowd by Capitol Police officers.
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“I was there in the House Chamber on January 6, 2021. I cannot believe these people who were convicted of crimes, crimes that include assaulting police officers, had the gall to come back here,” Suozzi told Schneps Media Long Island after the incident.
Suozzi took to X following Tuesday’s events, saying that he was “a witness to the insurrection five years ago” and “a witness again today.”
Suozzi also posted a video to his X account on Tuesday, from Jan. 6, 2021, detailing a near-two-minute period of Congress being evacuated from the Capitol building, all while wearing a COVID-19 mask.
“That day, I rededicated myself to overcoming the extremism and partisanship that have plagued our country. It is the only way forward,” he wrote alongside the post.
I was in the House chamber inside the Capitol on January 6. It was very real. That day, I rededicated myself to overcoming the extremism and partisanship that has plagued our county. It is the only way forward.
We cannot ignore history. pic.twitter.com/7j9yDUMPE2
— Tom Suozzi (@RepTomSuozzi) January 6, 2026
