‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot

Texas senator Ted Cruz has been filmed scrolling through his phone during the harrowing opening testimony at the Senate hearing into the Capitol riots, less than a week after his controversial trip to Mexico.

The US Capitol’s three former top security officials have been testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees about how Congress was breached during the riots on 6 January.

Steven Sund, who was serving as the chief of the Capitol Police at the time of the insurrection, gave a harrowing account of the actions of that day in front of the committees on Tuesday.

“Based on the intelligence we received, we planned for an increased level of violence at the Capitol, and that some participants may be harmed,” Mr Sund said during his testimony.

However, just after Mr Sund made those remarks, Mr Cruz was filmed on his phone, appearing to be either messaging or searching for something.

As Mr Cruz was filmed staring at his phone, Mr Sund added: “But none of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred.”

Social media users were quick to criticise Mr Cruz for being on his phone during Mr Sund’s testimony,

The Independent has contacted Mr Cruz’s office for comment.

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