Top House Democrat says 'no question' Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley may be added to 'no-fly' list if found liable for Capitol violence

A top House Democrat said Monday that Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) should be added to the "no-fly" list — which prohibits individuals from traveling on commercial airlines into, out of, or within the United States — if they are found liable for instigating violence at the U.S. Capitol last week.

What's the background?

Democratic lawmakers have partially blamed Cruz and Hawley for last week's deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol, claiming their efforts to oppose the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden's win sowed legitimacy into claims that the election had been "stolen" from President Donald Trump.

Although Cruz and Hawley have not been accused of criminal acts, Democratic senators and representatives have increasingly called for both men to resign, alleging they have violated their oaths of office.

What is being said now?

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday there is "no doubt" that Cruz and Hawley should be placed on the no-fly list as a way to hold them liable for "inciting" the violence.

"There's no question about it," Thompson said on SiriusXM's "The Joe Madison Show."

"There's no exemption for being put on the no-fly list," Thompson added. "Even a member of Congress that commits a crime, you know, they're expelled from the body. There are ethics charges that can be brought against those individuals. And people are looking at all of this."

Thompson went on to include freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) among those who may need to be punished.

"What Hawley did and what Cruz did was horrible," Thompson said. "What the new member from Colorado — who basically tweeted directions and everything that was going on — that's not something you do. Somebody said, 'Well she's new.' Well the point is ignorance of the law is no excuse. So if you don't know, you've still done something wrong."

What about the protesters themselves?

Thompson made it clear what he thought of those who participated in the Capitol riots, calling them "domestic terrorists."

"First of all, these folks, in my opinion, can be classified as domestic terrorists because of the actions they participated in on Wednesday," he said, as TheBlaze reported Monday.

"Now under normal circumstances international terrorists are out on no-fly lists. These are domestic terrorists — same thing. A terrorist is a terrorist, no matter who you are," Thompson added.

Democrats are, in fact, doing everything in their power to ensure that those who participated in the violence on the Capitol face any and all consequences.

While many of the rioters have been identified and arrested, two members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration this week demanding the agency do everything in its power to ensure the protestors, and future agitators, are prevented from traveling to violently disrupt President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) told FAA administrator Stephen Dickson:

We write, therefore, to urge you to take every appropriate action within your statutory authority, and to work with air carriers to persuade them to take complementary action, (1) to prevent civil unrest from jeopardizing aviation safety and leading to injury or worse during flight, and (2) to limit the chance that the Nation's commercial airline system could be used as a means of mass transportation to Washington, D.C., for further violence in connection with the inauguration.

There is no indication that any participants in last week's riots have been added to the federal no-fly list, CNN reported.