Former State Rep. Shares, Then Deletes, Video of Himself ‘Storming the Capitol’

Saccone also posted a photo of himself with state Sen. Doug Mastriano outside the Capitol.

WASHINGTON, DC — A former Pennsylvania legislator and congressional candidate was part of the group of domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

Rick Saccone, a Republican from Allegheny County, posted a video to his Facebook page that has since been deleted that said “We are storming the capitol. Our vanguard has broken thru the barricades.”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star Editor-in-Chief John Micek shared a screenshot of the post on Twitter.

Saccone later deleted the post and wrote a new one in which he backtracked his earlier comments.

“Everyone from our group was involved in peaceful, first amendment assembly,” he said in a new Facebook post.

He claimed the comments about “storming” the Capitol were a metaphor, and he only “heard” of people attacking the Capitol building.

Saccone also shared a photo of himself with state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Adams. It’s unclear whether Mastriano participated in the attack on the Capitol.

Saccone served as a representative in the 39th state House District from 2011 to 2019. In 2018, he lost a close race to Conor Lamb for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

During his congressional campaign, Saccone said, “I was Trump before Trump was Trump.”