» Violence, mockery asmob occupiesCongress.
U.S. Capitol Police hold protesters at gun-point near the House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol onWednesday in Washington.
WASHINGTON—“Where are they?” a Trump supporter demandedina crowdof dozens roaming the halls of the
Capitol, bearingTrumpflflags and pounding on doors.
They — lawmakers, staffff members andmore — were hiding under tables, hunkered in lockdowns, saying prayers and seeing the fruits of the country’s divisions up close and violent.
An unarmed woman was shot andkilledbypolice, and three others died in apparentmedical emergencies. A Trumpflflag hung ontheCapitol. The graceful Rotunda reeked of tear gas. Glass shattered.
OnWednesday, hallowed spaces ofAmerican democracy, one after another, yielded to the occupation of Congress.
The pro-Trump protesters
took over the presiding offifficer’s chair in the Senate, the offiffices of theHouse speaker and the Senate dais, where one yelled, “Trump won that election.”
Theymocked its leaders,
posing for photos in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one with his feet propped on a desk in her offiffice, another sitting in the same seatVice President Mike Pence had occupied onlymoments before during the proceedings to certifythe Electoral College vote. That certifification would eventually take place, but not until well after midnight.
Authorities eventually regainedcontrol as night fell.
Heavily armed officers brought in as reinforcements started using tear gas in a coordinated effffffffffffort to get people moving toward the door, then combed the halls for stragglers, pushing the crowd farther out onto the plaza and lawn, in clouds of tear gas, flflash- bangs and percussion grenades.
Videofootage alsoshowed offifficers letting people calmly walkoutthedoorsoftheCapitol despite the vandalism. Only about a dozen arrests weremade inthehours after authorities regained control.
They said awomanwas shot earlier as the mob tried to break through a barricaded door in the Capitol where police were armed on the other side.
She was hospitalizedwith a gunshot wound and later died.
Early on, some inside the Capitol sawthe trouble coming outside the windows. Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota surveyed the growing crowd on the groundsnotlongafterTrump hadaddressed his supporters by the Ellipse, fueling their grievances over an election that he and they say hewon.
“I looked out the windows and could see how outmanned the Capitol Police were,” Phillips said. Under the very risers set up for Biden’s inauguration, Trump supporters clashed withpolicewho blastedpepper spray in an attempt to hold them back.
It didn’twork. Throngs of MAGA-hatteddemonstrators tore downmetal barricades at the bottomof theCapitol’s steps. Some in the crowd were shouting “traitors” as offifficers tried to keep them back. They broke into the building.
Announcements blared: Due to an “external security threat,” no one could enteror exit theCapitol complex, the recording said. A loud bang sounded as offifficials detonated a suspicious package tomake sure it was not dangerous.
Itwasabout 1:15p.m. when New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas, a Democrat, said Capitol Police banged on his door and “told us to drop everything, getout asquickly as we could.”
“It was breathtaking how quickly lawenforcement got overwhelmed by these protesters,” he told The Associated Press.