įact checking website has looked into the claim of the panic buttons being inexplicably removed from Pressley's office. The world needs to understand that you were targeted. harrowing account from office is shocking. I’m sending love to our entire Congressional delegation and their staffs. That target has not been lost upon many people, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Oftentimes locations of her events are not announced via press releases, but only provided after people RSVP to the event. That has led to heightened security measures for Pressley and the rest of The Squad during their time in Congress. The safety of the Congresswoman, her family and our staff remain our top priority and at the direction of the Congresswoman, the Sergeant at Arms oversaw the installation of new duress buttons throughout the office following the attack.”įormer President Donald Trump practically put a target on Pressley's back as she is a member of The Squad, which was self-named by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The matter has been raised with the relevant agencies and is currently under investigation. Our staff has used these devices before and they are regularly tested and maintained. Capitol, Congresswoman Pressley’s Chief of Staff realized the duress buttons installed throughout the Congresswoman’s office suite had been removed. Since January, the story about the missing panic buttons has not been solved, but it is still under investigation said a Pressley spokesperson to Jamaica Plain News. As they were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh and Pressley and her husband tried to remain calm and vigilant - not only of rioters but of officers they did not know or trust, she said. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then.
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out - the whole unit,” she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office. Pressley's Chief of Staff Sarah Groh revealed that terrifying tidbit of info in a Boston Globe interview:Īs people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic.