A couple of months ago, the news broke that Representative Derrick Van Orden (MAGA - WI) hosted a drinking party in his office at the Capitol. He then took his guests for a midnight tour of the Capitol. While doing so, they came upon some teenage senate pages making memories on their last night, when Van Orden launched into a drunken fit of rage, cussing out and threatening the kids.
A few days later, Representative Mark Pocan put in a formal request for the video of the incident to be released.
It was ultimately decided not to release the video, at the parents' requests. The parents expressed valid concerns over their privacy and safety, due to the fear of retribution of MAGA activists, which is Van Orden's base.
However, Pocan, as a member of Congress was able to view the footage. His description of what he saw is as outrageous as when the incident was first reported:
“This video was bad and unbecoming of a Member of Congress. There is no way to prove Derrick was drunk, but this is not behavior a sober or sane person would do. He looked unbalanced and had belligerent hand gestures when he was threatening these teenagers. He towered over many of them and then followed them when they got up to leave. This was abusive behavior intended to frighten these pages.
“It’s odd enough to have a raging party in your office until midnight. But even more concerning is taking a large group of people to tour the Capitol at midnight and pushing others around to show off, including a bow to his guests afterward. Representative Van Orden’s behavior does not reflect Wisconsin values and he owes each of the pages and his constituents an apology.”
This alone should disqualify Van Orden from being reelected next year. But then again, Van Orden had already proven himself unworthy of holding office even before he was elected last year. He had another incident of terrorizing a teenager who was working at a library because of a gay PRIDE display. He sexually harassed two women while in the navy. He carried a loaded gun in an airport. And he also was a participant in the J6 insurrection riots.
