Michigan Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence said it was like déjà vu when she saw the news on her phone Friday afternoon.
“My phone is buzzing and I look and then I turned on the TV and I saw the officers being pinned by someone trying to ram onto the campus,” she said.
Lawrence is back in Michigan for the holiday weekend, but the news of Capitol officer William “Billy” Evans being killed after a suspect with a knife rammed a vehicle into a police barricade outside the Capitol reminded her of Jan. 6.
“That knot in my stomach from when I was on the floor during the insurrection,” she described.
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A second officer was seriously injured, and authorities shot the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Noah Green, who died at a hospital. Police are trying to put together the pieces of what happened but it is leaving more questions than answers.
“I don’t know all of the information. I don’t know if this was a terrorist attack. I don’t know if this was another attempt at an insurgence. I don’t know but just the fact that someone tried to breach the Capitol grounds in such a violent way,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence said there were discussions about removing the barriers in front of the Capitol, but now she’s not sure.
“To see those barriers, people are saying bring them down, but I’m concerned. Now as we navigate through on how to keep the Capitol safe, is it the right thing to do to take them down? After what happened today, I don’t think we’re ready yet,” she said.