Pocan Reacts to Van Orden Senate Page Harassment Footage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) released the following statement after he reviewed the security footage showing Representative Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) accosting and verbally harassing teenage Senate pages while they were enjoying the U.S. Capitol rotunda this past summer:

“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.”

There are privacy and safety concerns of the young Senate pages and their families about releasing the video footage for fear of retribution from MAGA activists. Due to these concerns, the video will not be released.