A US data analytics company, Cogensia, has placed its own CEO on "leave of absence" after chief executive Brad Rukstales joined a mob that stormed the chamber of Congress this week.
The incident left one police officer and four protestors dead.
Cogensia is an Illinois-based customer analytics specialist.
Rukstales told reporters that it was the "single worst personal decision of my life; I have no excuse for my actions." He was arrested after the incident and charged with unlawful entry.
Cogensia said: "We have been informed that our CEO, Brad Rukstales' participated in the recent Washington DC protests. Mr. Rukstales' actions were his own; he was not acting on behalf of our company nor do his actions in any way reflect the policies or values of our firm. He has been placed on leave of absence while we assess the situation further. [COO] Joel Schiltz has stepped in and will lead our firm in the interim.
"He will update you when we have more information to share."
https://twitter.com/Cogensia/status/1347340504934047747
The reaction was drawing a growing outcry on Friday.
As one fellow tech executive noted on LinkedIn: "To any Cogensis employee or investor reading this, your CEO committed multiple criminal felonies. He should be fired right now."
https://twitter.com/brad_rukstales
As the New Yorker’s Masha Gessen notes “The Capitol Police made more arrests on each of the first three days of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in September, 2018, than they did Wednesday... [many of the arrested were] self-identified survivors of sexual assault.”
Fallout over the seemingly willfully lackadaisical policing is escalating.
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund will resign effective Jan. 16, days before Biden’s inauguration. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger resigned at the request of McConnell, effective Thursday. And House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving is resigning, according to Pelosi, as Politico reports.
