Disturbing riot videos take centrestage at Trump’s trial
Never-before-seen footage played before Senators showed how Pence and Pelosi were rushed to safety
WASHINGTON: Chilling security video of last month’s deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, including of rioters searching menacingly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the then vicepresident Mike Pence, has become a key exhibit in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as lawmakers prosecuting the case wrap up their opening arguments for why Trump should be convicted of inciting the siege.
The House was expected to continue with its case through Thursday, with the former US president’s lawyers set to launch their defence by week’s end.
The footage shown at the trial, much of it never before seen, has included video of the mob smashing into the building, distraught members of Congress receiving comfort, rioters engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police and audio of Capitol police officers pleading for back-up.
It underscored how dangerously close the rioters came to the nation’s leaders, shifting the focus of the trial from an academic debate about the constitution to a raw retelling of the January 6 riot in Washington, DC.
The footage included rioters roaming the halls chanting “Hang Mike Pence”, some equipped with combat gear. Outside, the mob had set up a makeshift gallows. And in one particular moment, police were shown shooting and killing a San Diego woman, Ashli Babbitt, as the mob tried to break through doors near the House chamber.
Pence was shown being rushed to safety, where he sheltered in an office with his family. Pelosi was seen being evacuated from the complex as her staff hid behind doors in her offices.
Though most of the Senate jurors seem to have made up their minds - making Trump’s acquittal likely - they sat riveted as the jarring video played in the chamber.
Senator Mitt Romney saw himself in the footage, dashing down a hallway to avoid the mob. Romney said he hadn’t realised that officer Eugene Goodman, who has been praised as a hero for luring rioters away from the Senate doors, had been the one to direct him to safety.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors laid out their case by methodically linking Trump’s verbal attacks on the election to the violence that resulted when hundreds of loyalists stormed the building.
The goal of the presentation was to cast Trump not as an innocent bystander but rather as the “inciter in chief” who spent months spreading falsehoods about the election.
While six Republicans joined with Democrats to vote to proceed with the trial on Tuesday, the 56-44 vote was far from the two-thirds threshold of 67 votes needed for conviction.