N.Y. rep ‘shocked’ how easily they got in
On Wednesday afternoon, newly sworn-in Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) was in his Washington, D.C., office waiting to vote on validating the presidential election results when protesters besieged the U.S. Capitol. This interview in which he describes the chaos that ensued has been edited for length.
The presidential vote count began at 1 p.m. I was waiting at my office in Cannon [House Office Building], across the street from the Capitol. I was not planning to enter the House floor until it was my turn to vote.
I was watching the proceedings on C-SPAN while waiting to vote and then all of a sudden, the Capitol Police came storming into the office ... rushing me and my staff out of the Cannon Building. We were directed to evacuate based on reports of a suspicious package. There were a few [officers]. It was a scene of panic and pandemonium.
I went to the cafeteria in the Longwood Building. I stood there for about an hour. It was mostly full of staffers and I was bombarded with texts from family members, friends, constituents. [There were] about 100 people. It was in danger of exceeding capacity.
[Capitol Police] didn’t tell me to go to the cafeteria ... I had nowhere else to go. If I cannot go to the Capitol and I cannot go to my office, then the logical place is the cafeteria.
I saw no evidence of a heightened security presence. It came as a shock to me to see how easily the protesters overran the Capitol.
It became clear to me that the Capitol Police did not fully anticipate and prepare for the violent mob.
I think everyone was in a state of shock and everyone was appalled by the physical assault on the U.S. Capitol, which is the greatest symbol of democracy not only in our country, but in the world.
The Capitol Police directed me to an undisclosed location for the safety of members.
We were all waiting for and receiving periodic updates from Democratic and Republican leadership, as well as the Capitol Police. Most of the members were shoehorned into an undisclosed location where we were waiting patiently for the vote count to resume.
I felt secure, but I no longer have as much confidence in the security of the Capitol that I once did.
After 7 p.m., in person, [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] came out and said to the members “We are going to defend the Constitution, we’re going to defend democracy, we’re going to proceed with the vote count.” I could tell the speaker was deeply unsettled and shaken by the assault on the Capitol, but she was determined to see the vote count through.
We [then] cast two votes, one against the objection to Arizona’s electoral votes and the other against the objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.
I was in a state of shock. I never thought as a newly swornin [House] member that I would live through a violent siege of the Capitol.
Once I cast the vote, like most members I proceeded to go home.
It was quiet at that point. I saw vandalized property and broken glass on the Capitol, but there was no sign of carnage on the outside. It was quiet and dark.
Yesterday was an embarrassment and a tragedy.
What should have been a 30-minute ceremonial event descended into a 13-hour assault on American democracy — a metaphorical assault on the Electoral College vote and a physical assault on the Capitol itself.