Himes, DeLauro describe House breach
WASHINGTON — After a dramatic evacuation from the chamber U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Reps. Jim Himes and Rosa DeLauro huddled with about 200 other lawmakers in a secure conference room in the bowels of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday evening as a mob of protesters angry about the results of the 2020 election stormed the government complex in an unprecedented attack.
“Today was a massive security breach,” said Himes. “I’ve always assumed there was a button somewhere that they could press and the Capitol would be kind of sealed off. Well I guess that’s not true.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Congress had begun a formal process to certify the 2020 Electoral College votes, when thousands of people proceeded from a rally held by President Donald Trump near the White House to the U.S.
Capitol, overpowered U.S. Capitol Police, pounded on windows and doors and succeeded in entering the building, where they paraded with flags and obtained access to the House and Senate chambers as well as lawmakers’ offices.
Himes, D-4, and DeLauro, D-3, were in the House chamber around 2 p.m. when the commotion began, Himes said. A limited group of lawmakers were present in the chamber to maintain social distancing, while other representatives were in their offices.
Himes said the energy in the chamber shifted. Suddenly, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. was whisked away, along with other top House leaders.
“They locked up the doors and a lieutenant came in and said ‘there are gas masks under your seats. Please get them out. We’re using tear gas in the rotunda,’” Himes said.
The group of lawmakers and press were then directed to hide behind their seats on the floor of the second level gallery of the House.
“We could sort of hear that there were protesters outside,” Himes said. “They brought in a couple extra officers into the gallery. And then they told us to evacuate. At which point they — this is just unbelievable, you’ve seen the picture — they moved furniture in front of the door and a bunch of officers drew their weapons, pointed them at where the protesters were breaking a window and we sort of moved across the top of the gallery, all the way to the other side to where the First Lady sits during the State of the Union.”
At one point, a gun shot was heard in the House chamber and D.C. police later confirmed one person was shot inside the Capitol.
The officers surrounding the lawmakers had their guns drawn and pointed them down at the main level of the House chamber below where the rioters banged for entry. About four minutes later, the law enforcement moved Himes, DeLauro and the other lawmakers out of the chamber, passed a group of protesters lying on the floor at Capitol Police gunpoint and down a back stairwell, Himes said.
Police then ushered the lawmakers through tunnels in the U.S. Capitol complex to a conference room in a secure location. Soon after U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2, was brought to the location from his office by Capitol Police, Himes said.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1, was one of the lawmakers who was in his office when the rioters invaded the complex. He watched from his office across the park from the Capitol as the mob swelled around the building, break the lines of Capitol Police and force their way into the white marble building. For hours, he stayed locked in his office with two staffers, watching.
“I had a bird’s eye view,” he said. “I could observe everything. I was appalled at what was going on and could see that the Capitol Police were getting overwhelmed.”
On the opposite of the Capitol, law enforcement fought to protect members of the U.S. Senate, as they did with House members.
As the mob breached the building, police locked about 200 senators, staff and press inside the chamber, including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
An officer with an orange police sash across his torso stood on the floor with what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon, positioning himself between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. Capitol Police ordered the senators to stand away from the doors. At one point Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., looked at her phone and yelled to the group "Shots fired."
Blumenthal described the scene as “very deeply unsettling as the reality of violent threat looked possible.”
After 15 tense minutes, police ordered an evacuation of the chamber and rushed senators, staff and media to a secure location. As they rushed away, Senate parliamentary staff grabbed hold of the large mahogany boxes containing the electoral college certificates, preserving a key election documents that were at the center of the violent discord.
Blumenthal and other senators moved to a separate secure location to wait out the unfolding chaos, violence and discord. The mob stormed the capitol, fought with officers, hung Trump flags on statues and sat at lawmakers’ desks with their feet up.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tweeted at 4:48 p.m. “I am ok. My staff if ok. This is an insurrection. And President Donald Trump bears responsibility. It will not stop us from doing the work of democracy. It will not stop the transfer of power. Those responsible will be held accountable.”
Blumenthal said he was “sickened” by the “anarchist mobs.”
“It’s not a protest – it’s armed insurrection,” he said. “This is an assault on the heart of our democracy incited and fueled by the President of the United States and his enablers.”
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, tweeted to affirm her own safety around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
For hours, lawmakers waited in lockdown. Himes, DeLauro and Courtney’s group, holding in a conference room, were provided a box of Goldfish and some bottled water for sustanence. A Boston Globe reporter held in lockdown with other lawmakers said they were provided dinner trays with polenta and brussel sprouts.
Many lawmakers wore masks in the close quarters, but some did not. Social distancing was not really possible, Himes observed, bolstering an additional fear that the mob attack would contribute to the spread of coronavirus at the U.S. Capitol.
At about 5:50 p.m., an official made an announcement to Himes, DeLauro and Courtney’s group of huddling lawmakers: the U.S. Capitol was finally secure.
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, tweeted at 2 p.m. “This is unreal” and shared a video of protesters struggling with Capitol Police.
“This is not partisan. It is disgraceful,” she said.
Trump issued a video statement Wednesday afternoon calling on the rioters and protesters to go home, but telling them he loved them and the election was fraudulent and unfairly stolen from him and them.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long,” Trump later tweeted at the rioters, a message that was later removed from the platform. “Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Despite the unprecedented attack, Congress decided it would resume the work of certifying the election results when it was safe to do so. Vice President Mike Pence, McConnell and Schumer all condemned the violence of the day firm language when the Senate reconvened around 8:15 p.m.
Himes said he thought it was the right move and other House members in the room applauded when they were informed of the decision.
“People don’t want this to be anything other than a pause,” Himes said.