Marjorie Taylor Greene — Rep. MTG Holds a Press Conference on the Introduction of the "Matthew Lawrence Perna Act of 2024."

I'm going to

Speaker 1: go ahead and let her speak to tell Matthew's story. Once she finishes speaking, I'll be following up with the legislation that I'm reintroducing tomorrow. I'll be reintroducing it, and I'd like to explain how important this bill. But first, I'd like to

Speaker 2: point out that I'm the only Republican sponsoring

this bill

Speaker 2: And I have a

Speaker 1: serious question to my Republican colleagues, especially those who have stood out publicly, gone to the news, posted on their social media in defense of January's 6th amendments. I want to know why their names are co-sponsored on this bill. I'll let Jerry Furnow

speak about her recognition, and then I'll follow up about the support of the legislation. Thank you very much

I sacrificed to fight for him when I entered the Capitol building on January 15th. It was there, my own life, to find Captain Carter. This is his suicide note that was found in his Bible. My nephew walked into his garage on February 25th, 2022. He laid the piece around his neck and

Speaker 3: hanged himself

I was

Speaker 3: working with

you

Speaker 3: He is 37

years old, and our family will never be the same. Matthew was extraordinary. He was honest and strong, and defying his love of all people. He made that lovely country and believed that we are still entitled to free speech in the United

Woman 4: States

Speaker 5: of America

He

Woman 4: wanted to witness history that day and record it for his growing following on social media. Matthew was there to

ensure

Woman 4: that the presidential election was verified before being certified. Congress had been out of session for almost an hour when that arrived, so how could he have obstructed anything? Recently, Speaker Johnson released a very small percentage. After thousands of hours of surveillance footage, Matt has seen calmly walking past seven Capitol Police officers filming with your

cell phone

Woman 4: he even gives them a nod of support this video footage could have been highly beneficial to his defense but it was released after he hanged himself there are thousands of hours of video that have yet to be released as defendants from january 6th

rotting in jail awaiting trial for having already been convicted that takes speaker johnson matthew was inside the capitol for a crack

Woman 4: still for the peace he broke my nephew to kill himself that was long enough to destroy his reputation, his

freedom, his business, his joy, his love

Speaker 8: of life, everything

Imagine his father. Our family receives the most

Speaker 7: hateful letters from

anonymous cowards. His father opens

Speaker 7: his mail

Woman 4: quite often to get letters from anonymous people telling him

that Matt

Woman 4: deserve to die. When Matt discovered that he was, the FBI was looking for him, he turned himself in. The FBI agent said it would make things easier for him. It did not. He was told that having no affiliation with any organized group would help his defense. That was a lie. He was informed that he would likely face a fine and community service. That is not true either. When Matt had reached

the

Woman 4: point of just needing this nightmare to end, his attorney advised him to plead guilty. He told him that he would receive six to 12 months in a federal prison camp. Minimum

security. That was the

Woman 4: greatest lie of all. That deal was a trap and the terms meant nothing to the DOJ because after Matt pled guilty to the original charges, the prosecutor, under the direction of Matthew Bragg's plan to present a sentencing

campaign

Woman 4: of terrorism. Matthew told

Woman 6: us that if the judge accepted it, he could increase his sentence to nine years in prison. That was Matthew's breaking point. He called me that day, sobbing

Woman 4: uncontrollably. I could barely understand him. The

fear in his voice was

Woman 4: heartbreaking. He told me that he loved me and apologized for me losing my friendships. I told him that I loved him. I did not know that

Woman 6: would be the last conversation I would have with him. Matt had a deep faith in God, and although he prayed constantly and sought help from so many people, no one could tell him how this nightmare would end. The shame and damage to his family and friends were caused not by guilt, but by those criminalizing the First Amendment. dishonest, inaccurate reporting, and the false case experience in local and national

news

Woman 6: cast Matthew as a domestic

terrorist. Matt

Woman 6: stopped leaving

his home, stopped eating and

Speaker 9: began vomiting

blood. He

Speaker 9: was deteriorating before our eyes. The mental torture

Woman 6: caused by the

DOJ. The

Woman 6: constant delays and postponements were already too much for him. But the threat of spending several years

in prison was

Woman 6: the last straw. After that attack, I called the prosecutor who

was a

Woman 6: scientist. in his case he told

me that if matt

Woman 6: could have just waited another month

he didn't

Woman 6: believe the judge would have accepted the enhancement those words cut me like a knife i told him that my nephew hanged himself because of that threat the supreme court will review

Speaker 10 (higher-pitched voice): the 1512 c2 obstruction of an official

Woman 6: proceeding case over 330 defendants

have been

Woman 6: charged If they determine that the DOJ misuse this statute, the January 6th defendants will have to file a motion asking for that count to be dismissed

Many have

Woman 6: been in prison for years because of that felony. My nephew killed himself because

of the

Woman 6: sentence affiliated with that charge. And as much as I will be grateful that the DOJ-6 defendants will benefit from this determination

I am

Woman 6: infuriated. that my nephew was dead, and

Speaker 11 (higher-pitched voice): nothing will ever bring him back. Former Congressman Louie Goldberg introduced the Master Lawrence Perna Act of 2022, and the only person who co-sponsored today was Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She has been an enormous source of support to the Perna family, and we are incredibly grateful. While standing in the pouring rain, once before, in front of this building, Congresswoman, please promise me. that she would do everything possible to ensure that Matthew Turner's name is never forgotten. She has kept her promise. Why are we standing here alone? Where are the rest of the Republicans who should be backing her on this bill? One of

the most

Woman 6: critical provisions in this bill is Section 8, the transfer of venue. If the January defendants have been allowed to have their cases

Speaker 11 (higher-pitched voice): curved outside of Washington, D.C., Take one. not have pled guilty and would have gotten a fair trial. I urge the members of Congress who are not here today to support the Matthew Lawrence Bernabeu

Had this been in place

Speaker 12: prior to January 6th, Matthew Perda

Warren Hawkins, Christopher

Speaker 10 (higher-pitched voice): Stanton, Georgia, and George Leecher. All of who killed themselves, they still

feel alive today

Speaker 10 (higher-pitched voice): Thank you, Audrey, for your support and pushing this

bill. Thank you for your time today

Speaker 14: Can we sit here before and introduce

this legislation

Speaker 14: And I want to thank our former congressman

Louis Dover, and I just had dearly. I was the

Woman 15: only co-sponsor of this bill, and I want you to know it rained just like this. And this rain to me reflects tears from heaven, because this worthless Capitol building behind me is filled with politicians that don't care about

Woman 16: people, don't care about our laws, don't care about the Constitution, and use and abuse people

like Jerry Perna

Woman 16: all for their politics and their reelection and it makes me sick absolutely

Woman 15: disgusted with it i cannot believe i don't have any of my colleagues co-sponsoring this bill if you want to know what it does i'll tell you right now and i hope their lds are

listening because we

Woman 15: emailed them this bill is that it's named in honor of matthew perna who you just heard the story from his name carrie cruel and unusual treatment by joe biden's department of justice and the entire thing is led by Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney that works just a few blocks from here

Woman 16: in the Department of Justice and persecutes Americans who walked in the Capitol while at the same time every single person in Washington knows this city nearly burned down in 2020 from BLM rioters and protesters in Antifa. They don't give a damn about those riots, but they think January 6th is most important day in history. What a

bunch of

Woman 17: bullshit. This legislation ensures that political

Woman 15: persecution that unfolded in the aftermath of January 6th is further impeded by the law. The bill makes the following vital reform. It prohibits detention

Woman 17: for non-violent political protesters, including the allowance of civil action for any violations. It ensures fair and speedy trials. Isn't that what our constitution demand

and it will provide

Woman 17: find strong remedies to malicious over prosecutions

Woman 16: which is exactly what's happening to January 6th defendants. I don't give a damn how you vote. Everyone knows that these people are being persecuted. Most importantly, my bill will limit

Woman 15: the ability of the U.S. government to use national defense or so-called foreign policy justifications to deny a U.S. citizen's right to know whether where that he or she is being surveyed

Woman 17: and are investigated by our own government. This bill also ensures that it is the intent of progress that for any defendant sentence for a covered political protest offense, a judge should impose a sentence that is consistent

with the minimum sentence

Woman 18: provided by the guideline range applicable to the defendant. Finally

and this is extremely

Woman 18: important, This bill permits a transfer of venue in a

D.C. criminal

Woman 18: trial for nonviolent political protesters. And I want to tell you right now, that is the most important part

Woman 16: of this bill, because no January 6th defendant is

Woman 17: receiving a fair trial by a jury of their peers. Because these juries here are nothing but filled, they are filled with hate for these January 6th defendants, and they have been brainwashed

Woman 18: by the liars in the media and the Democrats every single day about what happened here on January 6th. And

Woman 17: I do want those tapes released. They need to be released because everyone in the entire world needs to be able to see them. People need to know what happened on January 6th. And the political persecution must end. And shame on anyone that cheers for this or harasses Matthew Curtis' father or any other January 6th defendants' family

That is

Woman 17: outrageous. Because this country is filled with hypocrites. anyone that witnessed the riots of 2020, went on day in and day out

Woman 16: and murdered people and attacked federal buildings, courthouses, burned over 93 police vehicles, looted and attacked businesses. It caused $2 billion in damage across the entire country. It's a damn hypocrite if they think January 6th was the worst day in

Woman 17: history

This needs to end. And

Woman 17: the Republican

Speaker 19: Party needs to grow some courage and actually stand up for

the people that

Speaker 19: they got out and

Woman 16: campaign and pretend they're standing up for it. We've had enough of it. You've been called out. If you're a Republican, you need to respond and you need to do your job because the people are watching. Your constituents, the voters, and the American people know exactly who's

Speaker 20: standing up and how many are not

Thank you

Speaker 20: Gary. Thank you. Thank

you for

Speaker 20: coming out today. Thank you for those of you that stood out here in the rain. I truly appreciate

Hi, I know. Thank you, Dr. Jerry. Is there any

Speaker 21: questions