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A Colorado Republican tweeted about Pelosi’s location during the Capitol siege. She’s now facing calls to resign

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert ran as an outspoken defender of President Trump.David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert went on the offensive Monday night, with the Republican issuing a bellicose statement amid growing calls for her resignation following her actions before and during the riot at the US Capitol.

A first-term lawmaker who ran as an outspoken defender of President Trump — who incited the violent siege on Jan. 6 — Boebert is facing serious pushback for tweeting about the location of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as lawmakers were whisked to a secure location to shelter in place while insurrectionists stormed the building.

Boebert accused Democrats of having their “hypocrisy” on “full display with talks of impeachment, censure, and other ways to punish Republicans for false accusations of inciting the type of violence they have so frequently and transparently supported in the past.”

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During the violent siege, Boebert first tweeted that representatives “were locked in the House Chambers” and then only a minute later that the “Speaker has been removed from the chambers.”

She dismissed the seriousness of the charges that she had endangered the life of Pelosi in her statement — or that her tweeting was even noteworthy in the first place.

“[Democrats] accuse me of live-tweeting the Speaker’s presence after she had been safely removed from the Capitol, as if I was revealing some big secret, when in fact this removal was also being broadcast on TV,” Boebert said.

The remainder of her statement was replete with baseless claims about President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Pelosi, and the “far-left.”

She compared the Black Lives Matter protests — reported to be greater than 93 percent peaceful — to the dangerous insurrection, referring to them as “the violence over the summer.”

In response to Boebert’s tweets, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said late Monday that lawmakers “were specifically instructed by those protecting us not to tell anyone, including our family, where exactly we were, for reasons that remain obvious.”

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Schatz, a Democrat, continued that it’s not explicitly clear “to what extent the rioters were coordinating operationally with government officials,” so it’s vital that lawmakers and others are “extremely careful in this line of inquiry.”

“But we must discover which elected and appointed officials, if any, and which civil servants, were helping the coup,” Schatz added.

Congress convened last Wednesday to certify the Electoral College votes, and thus, Biden’s victory. But Republicans in both the Senate and the House — in support of Trump and his baseless election fraud claims — vowed to protest the votes.

Even after the riot, dozens of Republican lawmakers still objected to the votes — including Boebert.

Earlier that Wednesday morning, Boebert — along with Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene — called the day a “1776 moment” for Republicans.

“Today is 1776,” Boebert tweeted.

“America is depending on all of us today,” she said shortly after noon. “This is something I don’t take lightly. I will fight with everything I have to ensure the fairness of the election.”

While on the floor, Boebert addressed Pelosi directly and said that she had “constituents outside this building right now.”

Boebert, her voice rising during the speech, said that she had promised her voters to “be their voice.” She objected to the Electoral College votes in both Arizona and Pennsylvania, two states Biden decisively won.

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Because of her actions, Boebert — who ran on a “pro-freedom, pro-guns, pro-constitution, pro-energy, pro-life, pro-Colorado, and pro-America” platform, according to her campaign website — has faced criticism and calls to step down from fellow lawmakers, including those within her own state.

California Representative Eric Swalwell compared Boebert to a criminal Monday and suggested that she refrain from making any further incendiary remarks.

“Like any citizen who has committed a crime, Lauren Boebert has the right to remain silent,” he said. “I suggest that she use it.”

As of Monday, more than 20,000 tweets had racked up with the hashtag #ResignBoebert.

The Garfield County Democrats circulated a petition calling for her resignation.

“[Boebert] should be removed from office before she does any further damage to our democracy,” reads the commentary from Garfield County Democratic Party Chairman John Krousouloudis and other local party leaders, the Aspen Times reported. “We can’t afford two more years of her fanning the flames of Q-Anon, Proud Boys, and other white nationalist groups.”

Kevin Kuns, chair of the Montrose Democratic Party, said Boebert is “embarrassing” for the district.

Boebert has demonstrated “zero interest in upholding the Constitution and has put other people’s freedom to vote in her crosshairs by trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election,” Kuns said in a statement.

Kuns continued: “Whether Boebert’s actions were willful ignorance or purposeful insurrection to overthrow a democracy, I agree with the tens of thousands of people who tweeted #ResignBoebert today — Boebert must resign. Our district deserves better.”

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Morgan Carroll, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, said Boebert’s “peddling of disinformation and dangerous conspiracies” played a part in “the attempted coup at the Capitol last week.”

“If Lauren Boebert were a true patriot as she claimed to be, she would respect the peaceful transfer of power that is a signature part of our Constitution, end her continued peddling of conspiracy theories, and get to work for her constituents,” Carroll said in a statement. “If she will not, Lauren Boebert should immediately resign.”


Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her @shannonlarson98.