IN THEIR WORDS
Connecticut lawmakers recount their experiences during the U.S. Capitol riots on Wednesday.
The world watched in shock Jan. 6 as an angry mob tried to derail the Democratic process of naming a new president by storming the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The images were frightening. Thugs waving Trump flags, breaking windows, overwhelming Capitol Police officers, breaking into the House and Senate chambers. Inside the building, and the legislative offices surrounding the Capitol, Connecticut’s elected representatives were forced to take cover behind chairs and desks and flee to safety. It was unthinkable, unimaginable. Until it was reality. Here, in their own words, members of the Connecticut delegation recount their experiences as they learned what was happening and then waited to resume the task of naming Joe Biden the next President of the United States. The accounts were assembled from interviews and original writing, along with information in stories published by the Courant and CT Mirror.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd
I was in the [House] Chamber, in the gallery, when this happened and we were first told to remain calm, that they were going to continue with the debate. There was a removal of the Speaker [Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)], Majority Leader [Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)], and Whip [Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.)]. That happened first. Then they said, “Remain calm” and then they said that the Capitol had been breached, there were rioters, they had been tear-gassed.
It was a short hop to the main door to the Chamber and they told us to grab gas masks under our seats. No sooner had we pulled those out — I had never used a gas mask — that then it was, “We’re moving to evacuate.” We were moving around the upper chamber of the gallery, we were told to hit the ground because the rioters had broken the glass in the doors to the chamber and there were shots that were fired. We were hiding behind seats in the gallery.
We were about 15 or 20 minutes on the floor, members looking out for one another. There was a loud bang on the door, which
is a ceremonial door, which when you see the State of the Union, the First Lady comes through. They finally got the determination from the police. That door opened, they said, “Let’s move it.” They got us out of there quickly. I noted as I went by, right on the floor of that corridor, there were the terrorists, the mob, lying flat, faced down with the police over them with guns. Then we went down the steps to the basement and then to a secure location.
It was less fear than knowing it was a dangerous situation that could get worse. There was so much concern among members for one another and making sure that people were OK — but with the view that we could get out, that we were going to going to get out. I made a call to my husband, just to let him know that I was safe, to let our kids know that I was safe, that we were going to get out. I’m not by nature someone who is fearful, but you’d have to be just misjudging to think there wasn’t a potentially dangerous situation.
[In the safe location] people were trying to make sure folks were okay, people were on the phones because family, friends were calling: “Are you OK? Are you alright?” Lots of concern about how this happened, why this happened, how could the Capitol building be breached, what was going on. And we didn’t see, except for television, what was going on outside. And then we were kept up
to date about when we could go back to the House Chamber. There was a determination to go back to the House chamber to finish up what our Constitutional order was: to verify the election.
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th
I was in my office for almost 13 hours, waiting for the National Guard or the military. I kept saying, “What is taking them so long?” The president had a responsibility to secure these grounds yesterday.
We were in our offices and then we kept getting updates on our phone and our computer to move to another location. There were other rooms in the building that we were told to move to, but literally it was “Stay quiet, stay off your devices.” It was scary, it was scary. I kept thinking, “Is anybody going to come?”
When I was in the classroom and there was an emergency drill or an active shooter, anything, you would have the police come by and clear your room, come in the door to
see how many people were there so there was an accurate count of who was on the campus. And for hours yesterday, we were just waiting for an email or some kind of direction. Everything about that just felt wrong.
I was in my office, but my son was here with me. I was trying to have him stay quiet, move into the bathroom. We were here all day. I knew we’d be here, but my plan was to go out and get lunch and come back, so I’m texting, trying to get any information I could. It was something I could have never imagined. Literally we’re two days into this Congress. I kept thinking that the Capitol Police were out there with no personal protective equipment, no shields, no masks, nothing.
Later we were told, “Use the tunnels to go cast your last vote, there is enhanced police presence.” And nothing about that instilled confidence for me. I still did not feel comfortable walking from my office to going to the [House] floor to vote. And then even on the floor, to see the Speaker’s Lobby with broken glass and shattered doors was scary.
There is a sense that America is safe, that this complex is safe, that the Capitol is safe. To see Americans storm the Capitol, flying the American flag and labeling themselves as patriotic — that is not patriotic. We have systems to address our grievances. And we also have the ability of people to change the systems when they don’t work. But what happened yesterday wasn’t any of those things. And I don’t care if you’re a Republican, or a Democrat, or apolitical; no one should be trying to parse this out and justify it in any way.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT
Shock and fear was clearly evident in the faces of staff and senators as we rushed to evacuate the chamber. Going down the hallway and stairs we saw the mobs and rioters through the windows, brandishing Confederate and Trump flags.
The harrowing threat of physical violence seemed real. I tried to comfort a young staff member, seeing tears and terror in her eyes, by saying that we were in good hands and out of harm’s way. There was also some humor as an attempt at distraction — I told a new colleague, sworn in only last Sunday: ‘Things were fine until you got here.’
There was also fierce determination to do our job and complete the vote certification — go back to the chamber and show that mob violence and insurrection would not block democracy.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st
Over my career in Congress I’ve witnessed three peaceful transitions of power. In 2005, I was a teller during the Congressional certification of the electoral college results.
January 6th, 2021, however, was unlike any other day I’ve experienced in
Congress. It started out as a somewhat typical day on Capitol Hill, though less people are in the buildings right now for COVID precautions. I was in the Capitol earlier in the day for the beginning of the proceedings to count the electoral college votes but went back to my office at the request of the Speaker as the debate on the Arizona electoral college votes began, for COVID precautions. At the same time, there was a growing mob of people outside on the Capitol grounds and on the Ellipse outside the White House. The President went out to the Ellipse and riled them up, which was throwing gasoline on the fire. I could see from my office the crowd as they breached the barricades and went up the Capitol steps.
For context, there’s the Capitol itself which sits on Capitol Hill. Directly across the street from the Capitol on the east side is the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress and on the west side is the Mall and the Washington Monument. On the north side are the Senate buildings on the south side are the House buildings. There are three Senate office buildings and three House office buildings. Our office is in the middle in a building called Longworth, so I have a direct view of the Capitol grounds from the floor I sit on.
I could see the Capitol Police trying to control the crowd, even though they did not succeed. Later on, an ambulance came and took some people away, including the poor woman who was killed.
Around 9 p.m., the House chamber was secured, the House reconvened, and we continued performing our Constitutional duty to count the electoral college votes. A little bit before 4 am on January 7th, we finished, and President-elect Biden was declared the next President of the United States. With a bipartisan agreement to finish the job that day, we made it clear that no mob would deter us. I am proud Congress fulfilled its Constitutional duty on what otherwise was a sad day in Amer
ica, where a sitting President would incite a riot to go against the will of the people and overturn the results of the election.
As we learn more about what happened that day, we know many Capitol Police officers and Capitol staff acted heroically, while others’ actions raised concerns. We must thoroughly investigate how this breach occurred and what changes we need to make to ensure it doesn’t happen again. My heart goes out to the families of those who died that day.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th
As the debate in the House over the Arizona objection unfolded, Himes recalled hearing noises in the hall, quickly followed by uniformed police. A lieutenant commanded them to close the chamber’s large heavy doors.
“And that’s when it got a little strange,” Himes said. “We briefly recessed, and the lieutenant came in and said, ‘We’ve used tear gas in the Rotunda. So please take out the gas masks under the seats and open them up.’ ”
“You could hear banging on doors.
You could hear shouting outside. And at that point, they led more officers into the gallery, to the galleries and balcony overlooking the floor. They spread us out. And they evacuated the floor pretty quickly. They took the speaker and Steny off, and then the lieutenant came and said, ‘Get ready to crouch down behind your seats.’ It got a little tense.”
Himes said he heard no gunfire, only banging that sounded like a baseball bat taken to a door, the unmistakable noise of breaking glass, and a pop and whoosh that may have been tear gas. Himes watched the police try to secure the doors. He was dumbfounded to watch them struggle to move heavy furniture as a barricade. He was in what is largely assumed to be one of the most secure buildings in the United States. He could hear mob sounds in the foyer.
“They were at the door to the chamber. They broke the glass,” Himes said.
The officers pointed their weapons at
the door. Then came the word: Evacuate. Himes was in a group escorted out the exit usually used by the first lady after the State of the Union. The hallway was crowded with police in tactical gear. Rioters lay face down on the floor.
“You know, mobs are nothing new. Mobs don’t surprise me,” Himes said. “But when a good chunk of a political party decides to aid and abet a mob in the service of chaos, and attacking our democracy, that makes me really sad. I mean, it’s just an awful moment.”
“We’ve known Donald Trump now for four years. But it makes me very, very sad that so many of my Republican colleagues — some of them, by the way, are sitting across from me in a very crowded room, making a real point about not wearing a mask,” Himes said. “You know, it just makes me so sad that people will abandon their commitment to democracy and decency for a man like Donald Trump.”
Rep. Joe Courtney. D-2nd
Courtney, who was in his office at the Rayburn House Office Building during the invasion at the Capitol, said that it was clear the certification of the Electoral College votes would have to continue.
“We can’t allow the constitutional procedure derailed. If we go through the night that’s what we have to do. People are very determined,” he said.
When Courtney looks at the rostrum at the front of the House chamber — which one insurgent mounted during the takeover — he said he thinks of former presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
“It’s a sacred place of democracy. To see it hijacked like that is outrageous,” he said.