U.S. LAWMAKERS SAY POLICE DOWNPLAYED THREAT OF VIOLENCE

An animatronic robot, which is made in the likeness of German playwright Thomas Melle, from theater collective Rimini Protokoll performs “Uncanny valley” during the Santiago a Mil International Theatre Festival in Santiago, Chile, on Wednesday. REUTERSREUTERS

As the mob swarmed into the U.S. Capitol, Pennsylvania congresswoman Susan Wild took cover, squeezing into a tight aisle in an upper-floor gallery and inching across the floor as supporters of President Donald Trump banged on the doors.

“That was when it really started to get scary,” said Wild, 63, describing Wednesday’s dramatic siege of the complex that houses the U.S. Congress.

After she fumbled to work a gas mask and briefly lost a shoe while dragging herself toward a door to evacuate, gunfire rang out. Police shouted, “Get down. Get down.

Get down!” as people screamed, Wild said in an interview with Reuters.

Moments earlier, as hundreds of rioters stormed the building, U.S. Capitol Police officers barricaded the lawmakers inside the chamber of the House of Representatives, where they had just started the final certification of electoral votes showing Democrat Joe Biden had beaten Trump in the November election.

“It wasn’t until things really escalated that there was a kind of a panicky state,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat.

A day after the historic security breach of the iconic domed building that houses the U.S. House and Senate, lawmakers told harrowing tales of their escapes from grave danger in the deadly mob assault that many say was incited by Trump. Several told Reuters that top Capitol security officials had assured them they would be safe ahead of the planned protests and that everything was under control.

As recriminations began in Congress, officials at other branches of government said they could have provided more people to secure the Capitol – but no one from the Capitol Police asked. A senior U.S. defense official said that the Pentagon had been in touch with the Capitol police last week and as late as Sunday but were told that they would not require assistance from the

National Guard.

“We asked more than once, and the final return that we got on Sunday,” January 3, “was that they would not be asking DOD (the Department of Defense) for assistance,” said Kenneth Rapuano, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security.

The siege that left five people dead, including a police officer, and up to 60 officers injured, prompted lawmakers to demand an investigation into security lapses. Fallout has been swift. The Capitol Police chief will resign. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House sergeant at arms would resign. And top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he would fire the Senate sergeant at arms.

In interviews with Reuters and in public statements, lawmakers fumed over the failure of the Capitol Police - a 2,000-member force dedicated to guarding the Capitol Grounds - and other agencies. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies and chief defenders, said the invaders, many carrying weapons or unsearched backpacks, “could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. They could have destroyed the government.”

“How could we not be prepared?” he asked at a news conference.