• New details show sinister intent of attack on U.S. Capitol,
WASHINGTON — Under battle flags bearing Donald Trump’s name, the Capitol’s attackers pinned a bloodied police officer in a doorway, his twisted face and screams captured on video. They mortally wounded another officer with a blunt weapon and bodyslammed a third over a railing into the crowd.
“Hang Mike Pence!” the insurrectionists chanted as they pressed inside, beating police with pipes. They demanded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s whereabouts, too. They hunted any and all lawmakers, asking: “Where are they?” Outside, makeshift gallows stood, complete with sturdy wooden steps and a noose. Guns and pipe bombs were stashed nearby.
Only days later is the extent of the danger from one of the darkest episodes in American democracy coming into focus. With countless smartphone videos emerging, the sinister nature of the assault has become evident.
The staging
The mob got stirring encouragement from Mr. Trump — and more explicit marching orders from the president’s men.
“Fight like hell,” Mr. Trump exhorted his partisans at the staging rally.
“Let’s have trial by combat,” implored his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, whose attempts to throw out election results in trial by courtroom have failed spectacularly.
It’s time to “start taking downnames and kicking ass,” said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
Criminals pardoned by Mr. Trump, among them Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, came forward at rallies on the eve of the attack to tell the crowds they were fighting a battle between good and evil.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., gave a clenched-fist salute to the hordes outside the Capitol as he pulled up to press his baseless challenge of the election results.
Far-right social media users had openly hinted for weeks that chaos would erupt at the Capitol when Congress convened to certify the election results. As the attack unfolded, they urged followers to “trust the plan” and “hold the line.” Just what the plan might have been is central to the investigation.
The FBI is investigating whether some of the attackers intended to kidnap members of Congress and hold them hostage. Authorities are particularly focused on why some in the mob were seen carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs and had apparently accessed areas of the Capitol generally difficult for the public to locate.
The assault
Thousands had swarmed the Capitol. They charged into police and barricades outside the building, shoving and hitting officers in their way. The assault quickly pushed through the outnumbered police line; officers ran down one man and pummeled him.
In the melee outside, a man threw a fire extinguisher at the head of a police officer. Then, he picked up a bullhorn and threw that at officers too.
The identity of the officer could not immediately be confirmed. But Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was wounded in the chaos, died the next night; officials say he had been hit in the head with a fire extinguisher.
Shortly after 2 p.m., Capitol Police sent an alert telling workers in a House office building to head to the underground transportation tunnels that criss-cross the complex. Minutes later, Vice President Mike Pence was taken from the Senate chamber to a secret location, and police announced the lockdown of the Capitol. At 2:15 p.m., a voice was heard over the chamber’s audio system: “The protesters are in the building.”
At 2:44 p.m., as lawmakers inside the House chamber prepared to be evacuated, a gunshot was heard from right outside, in the Speaker’s Lobby on the other side of the barricaded doors. That’s when Ashli Babbit, wearing a Trump flag like a cape, was shot to death on camera as her fellow insurrectionists rioted. The Air Force veteran from California had climbed through a broken window into the Speaker’s Lobby before a police officer’s gunshot felled her.
Back in the House chamber, a woman in the balcony was seen and heard screaming a prayer.
House lawmakers and staff members who had been cowering during the onslaught were taken from the chamber and gallery to a secure room. The mob broke into Ms. Pelosi’s offices while members of her staff hid in one of the rooms of her suite.
When they breached the abandoned Senate chamber, they milled around, rummaged through papers, sat at desks and took videos and pictures. One of them climbed to the dais and yelled, “Trump won that election!” Two others were photographed carrying flex cuffs typically used for mass arrests.
But outside the chamber, the mob’s hunt was still on for lawmakers: “Where are they?” people could be heard yelling.