CNN: House Democrat: Capitol riot won’t be an isolated event unless we “work to make it so”

CNN, JOSIAH RYAN

Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger today said security officials and Americans must remain vigilant to protect against future attacks from domestic terrorists, warning that the Capitol riot was not a one-time event. 

“I think it’s important for everyone, your viewers, those who are doing the day-to-day work of preventing attacks to recognize that what occurred on Jan. 6, was not an isolated event,” Spanberger, a former CIA officer, told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin today. 

Spanberger said she believes too many made the error of quickly dismissing the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, “as a one-time event,” when it it should have been linked to events that followed, including the 2017 Tree of Life synagogue shooting. 

“They don’t all look the same,” she said. “They are all rooted in the same domestic far-right White nationalist threat.”

“Across out country we need to recognize that this is a real threat,” Spanberger added of the Capitol riot. “This was not a one-off. This was not a one-time thing unless we aggressively work to make it so.”