Several Dallas-area Trump supporters lost their jobs and reportedly closed their businesses late Saturday after images of them taking part in the deadly, armed riot at the U.S. Capitol last week went viral.
Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr. was identified Friday in The New Yorker as the man who roamed the Senate floor holding zip-tie handcuffs while wearing green tactical gear and a helmet.
He was among several thousand people who forced their way past U.S. Capitol Police in order to stop the confirmation of Electoral College votes in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
Moments earlier, the rioters were instructed by President Donald Trump in a speech in front of the White House to go to the Capitol and encourage Republican lawmakers to oppose the confirmation.
Five people died during or after the riot. Rioter Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by police while trying to break into the Speaker’s Lobby.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died one day later from injuries inflicted by rioters. Three unidentified people died from unspecified medical emergencies.
Video from the riot showed Trump supporters shouting accusations that Vice President Mike Pence is a “traitor” for refusing to reject the valid Electoral College votes. Several rioters can be heard demanding Pence “hang” while others carried nooses.
Fort Worth-based Hillwood Airways confirmed Saturday evening Brock is an employee. The company is owned by real estate developer Ross Perot Jr.
“I can also confirm he no longer works for the company,” said Hillwood spokesman James Fuller. “Hillwood Airways has not released additional statements on this topic.”
Brock has yet to comment on the loss of his job. He told The New Yorker he assumed he was welcome to enter the Capitol and denied entering the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi despite video showing him exiting the office. He claimed he merely found the zip-ties on the floor.
“I wish I had not picked those up,” he said. “My thought process there was, I would pick them up and give them to an officer when I see one … I didn’t do that because I had put them in my coat, and I honestly forgot about them.”
Two anonymous relatives of Brock claim he has made racist remarks in front of them and they believe white-supremacist views may have played a role. Brock has denied holding racist views.
He defended wearing tactical gear at the Capitol, expressing fear of getting stabbed or hurt by “B.L.M. and Antifa” aggression.
Air Force officials confirmed Brock retired from the military in 2014. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989.
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That good for them they have to pay for there crime