Rep. Mo Brooks confirms he wore body armor during January 6 speech

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Rep. Mo Brooks’ office has confirmed with WAFF that he did wear body armor while giving a speech on January 6, hours before the U.S. Capitol Insurrection that killed five people.

On Wednesday, the website Slate posted an article that said Brooks admitted to wearing body armor at that speech after being warned there might be risks. WAFF 48 News reached out to Brooks’ office to see if these statements were true. His office said he was wearing body armor during the speech due to threats.

“The only warnings shared with me about January 6 concerned the risk of threatened violence by BLM & ANTIFA,” according to his office. “As a consequence of these threats, I have body armor, a concealed carry permit, and purchased a Glock to go with them.” The Slate article also stated that Brooks slept on the floor of his office instead of his condo in Washington, D.C., his office did not comment on this.

His office said that he had “zero warnings of any kind” about the risk of violence by Trump supporters at that speech.

Brooks also said that he has already been shot at and targeted for assassination and that he takes these threats seriously.

These new details could be used against him in a lawsuit filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell of California that claims Brooks incited the riot that happened directly after the speech. Brooks has argued that he could not be sued because he was acting in his official capacity that day. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice said that it would not defend Brooks in the lawsuit because it was a campaign event. This means that the lawsuit against Brooks can move forward.

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