Democracy Inaction
8:00 PM: House Majority Leader Hoyer tweets and encloses his Statement on the Joint Session of Congress Reconvening for the Electoral College Certification:
“Today’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol complex was a direct attack on our democracy. It is shameful and despicable, but it will not prevent us from carrying out our Constitutional duties. Tonight, the House and Senate will reconvene in a Joint Session of Congress to continue the Electoral College certification. We will fulfill our duty to the Constitution and the American people.
“This is a dark day in our nation’s history, but our democracy will prevail. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be confirmed as the next President and Vice President of the United States. When they are sworn into office on January 20, I hope that day will mark the beginning of a new era for the American people in which we can come together as one nation and heal.”
8:06 PM: Vice President Pence reopens the Senate, saying, “Let’s get back to work.” 8:09 PM: Jonathan Martin of The New York Times tweets: “An extraordinary scene just outside the Senate. Lawmakers determined to meet and police have surrounded chamber, bomb-sniffing dogs prowling.”
8:10 PM: Vice President Pence speaks on Senate floor:
“To those who wreaked havoc today: You did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins, and this is still the people’s house. As we reconvene, the world will again witness the resilience of our democracy.”
“Today was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol...we condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms.” 8:21 PM: Rachel Chason of The Washington Post tweets: “A few Trump supporting stragglers, a whole lot of law enforcement and media outside the Capitol now...”
8:22 PM: Sarah Ferris of Politico tweets: “There’s a police dog here inspecting parts of Capitol building that is wearing booties, which is apparently to protect his paws from the glass.”
8:35 PM: Senate Majority Leader Mcconnell speaks: “The United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness of intimidation. The United States and the Senate will not be intimidated. We are back at our posts. We will discharge our duty under the Constitution for our nation. And we are going to do it tonight.”
8:46 PM: Maj. Gen. Omar J. Jones IV, Commanding General, Joint Force Headquarters–national Capital Region & US Army Military District of Washington, tweets for the first and last time of the day: “I am not the commanding general for DC National Guard. I am a regular Army officer and currently command the Military District of Washington. Thank you.”
The tweet is misleading, for he is the joint force commander for the overall military command responsible for “defense support of civil authorities” in the District and commander of Joint Task Force–national Capitol Region (JTFNCR), which was activated in March 2020 to prepare for all military contingencies in Washington, DC.
8:47 PM: Marissa J. Lang of The Washington Post tweets: “Just witnessed another arrest, though this crowd has thinned out substantially. We are nearing 3 hours post curfew now. The man who was arrested had a megaphone and had been berating the cops for hours. Didn’t get a photo but seemed he walked
past the police line & got grabbed.”
8:51 PM: U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas tweets: “What happened today in Washington was despicable and illegal. Storming a government building is not a protest, it’s anarchy. Arrest them, charge them, and incarcerate them.”
“And if these clowns today don’t think the capitol police, FBI, FPS and others won’t be pouring over open source and other video to make cases, they’re wrong. If any of these leads points to SDTX [Southern Texas], we’re on it.”
8:55 PM: K. Tully-mcmanus of Roll Call/ CQ Now tweets a statement from Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chair of the Committee on House Administration: “The breach today at the U.S. Capitol raises grave security concerns. I intend to have the Committee on House Administration work with the bipartisan House and Senate leadership to address these concerns and review the response in coming days.”
8:55 PM: Igor Bobic of Huffington Post tweets: “Every senator is going to speak because of course they are.”
8:58 PM: Senate Minority Leader Schumer tweets: “Those who performed today’s reprehensible acts were rioters, insurrectionists, thugs, domestic terrorists. They don’t represent America. They were violent extremists who tried to take over the Capitol They must be prosecuted to the full extent. But tonight Democracy will triumph.”
9:02 PM: Speaker Pelosi brings the House back into session.
“Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. For that reason, Congress has returned to the Capitol.
“We always knew that this responsibility would take us into the night, and we will stay as long as it takes...
“...To those who stoked deterrence from our responsibility, you have failed. To those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of democracy, American democracy, justice will be done.
“...despite the shameful actions of today ...We will be part of a history that shows the world what America is made of, that this assault, this assault is just that. It shows the weakness of those who have had to show through violence what their message was.”
9:04 PM: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) tweets and releases a statement saying that she has introduced articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.”
9:10 PM: The AP reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sending 1,000 members of the state’s National Guard to Washington, DC, to help “the peaceful transition of presidential power.”
9:10 PM: Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News tweets: “...Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’brien, O’brien’s deputy Matt Pottinger and Trump deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell are considering resigning, sources tell me...”
Later it was learned that Deputy National Security Advisor Pottinger resigned Wednesday afternoon, dismayed by President Trump’s role in inciting violence. Pottinger said he had intended to resign election day, regardless of the outcome, but stayed on at O’brien’s request.
9:15 PM: Richard Hall of The Independent
(UK) tweets his article, “Surrounded by men dressed for war, I saw Trump’s fascism at the heart of American democracy.”
“The crowd started to move before he had finished talking. I walked behind a group of men in military fatigues who held a radio up to a megaphone so they could continue listening to Trump. There were many groups like them wandering around: militias, Proud Boys, men wearing knee-pads and stab vests. Men dressed as if they were going to war.
“...I arrived at the foot of the Capitol building to find that several thousand protesters had already trampled over the small outer security fences and were stationed at the bottom of the steps. They took their place in front of a thin line of Capitol police who, it was clear from the beginning, were disastrously ill-prepared.
“As the crowd swelled from the back, it became more violent at the front. Perhaps a few dozen of the mob were pushing and testing the police.”
“...Men in camouflage gear acted as if they were generals in some foreign battlefield. ‘Soldiers forward! Soldiers
forward,’ shouted one man. As a handful of men retreated from the front with watering eyes, they were admonished for leaving by the crowd. “‘Why are you leaving?’
“‘We got tear gassed’
“‘So what?’
“‘They’re shooting us with paintballs.’ “‘That’s what we’re here for.
It’s gonna be bullets before too long, so hold the friggin’ line.’
“Two meters away from the men playing war, families were taking selfies. For some, it was an exciting day out, democracy in action, a story to tell their friends. For others, it was the first shot of a long-brewing civil war.”
9:15 PM: House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy speaks on the House floor:
“I rise to address what happened in this Chamber today and where do we go from here.
“The violence, destruction, and chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable, undemocratic, and un-american. It was the saddest day I have ever had serving as a Member of this institution.
“The Capitol was in chaos. Police officers were attacked. Guns were drawn on this very floor. A woman tragically lost her life.
“No one wins when this building and what it stands for are destroyed. America, and this institution, is better than that.
“We saw the worst of America this afternoon. Yet, in the midst of violence and fear, we also saw the best of America. It starts with our law enforcement—the Capitol Police, the National Guard, the FBI, and the Secret Service—who faced the most difficult challenges but did their duty with confidence and strength. Many of them are injured right now.
“...Looking back on the past few hours, it is clear this Congress will not be the same after today, and I hope it will be the better. I hope not just this institution, but I hope every American pauses for that moment and thinks among themselves that we can disagree with one another but not dislike each other; we can respect the voices of others.
“...nobody has a right to become a mob. And we all should stand united in condemning the mob together...
“By returning here to complete the work we were sent to do, we are proving that our democracy cannot be disrupted by criminal behavior...
“Let me be very clear: Mobs don’t rule America. Laws rule America. It was true when our cities were burning this summer, and it is true now.
“When Americans go to bed tonight, their lasting memory should not be a Congress overrun by rioters. It must be a resolute Congress conducting healthy debate.
“We may disagree on a lot in America, but tonight we should show the world that we will respectfully, but thoroughly, carry out the most basic duties of democracy.”
9:17 PM: The Carter Center releases a statement from former President Jimmy Carter. “We join our fellow citizens in praying for a peaceful resolution so our nation can heal...”
9:21 PM: Billy House of Bloomberg tweets: “So, help me out. Have Capitol Police spokespeople provided the public any details of today’s events—number of arrests, those injured or worse, numbers of officers hurt? A description of what happened? Maybe I missed it.”
9:22 PM: Christal Hayes of USA Today tweets: “I’m inside the Capitol...the aftermath of Trump rioters storming the building is jarring Glass everywhere, dust blankets the ground, broken benches turned on their side, used medical kit with an IV & AED machine that was used on a woman who was squeezed in the chaos.”
9:33 PM: Perry Stein of The Washington Post tweets: “Big difference from a few hours ago in front of Capitol. Just a dozen or so Trump supporters left in front here. Officers have mostly left or backed away.”
9:34 PM: Marissa J. Lang of The Washington Post tweets a video from the west side of the Capitol: “...a handful of Trump supporters linger and continue to heckle them and declare victory. Plenty of those who left did so promising, ‘we’ll be back!’”
10:16 PM: Jill Colvin of the AP tweets from the White House: “It is quieter than I’ve ever heard it outside the White House tonight. Without cars and foot traffic, I could hear the hum of generators on the driveway.”
10:20 PM: Aaron Ruper of Vox tweets: “Holy shit. [Rep.] Matt Gaetz just said, “some of the people who breached the
Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.”
10:29 PM: Manu Raju of CNN tweets: “Weary senators are sitting down quietly and having dinner in the ornate LBJ room off the floor. It’s rare both parties dine together. And remnants from the riots: The floors are slippery and gray because the rioters grabbed the fire extinguishers and sprayed them in the building.”
10:36 PM: Richard Engel of NBC News tweets: “Police seemed very chummy with the protesters who also seemed to know exactly where to go.”
Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner tweets in response: “Protesters told me same AND Cap Police have a long, long history of handling protesters in a friendly manner without much resistance. This caught them off guard. Protests are common on Capitol Grounds. Storming the building is unprecedented.”
“I think the Police were cool with the protesters at first and it suddenly went far beyond what they were expecting. In the summer, they were more on defense during those protests and had the cops lined up in greater numbers. This caught them off guard.”
“I wouldn’t say protesters knew where to go, though. A lot of them wandered in and were steered into the Rotunda, or as one protester told me, “The big round room.”
At 10:48 PM, Ferrechio adds: “Many of them WALKED RIGHT IN. They were not stopped by police...there were a mix of people in the Capitol and a lot of confusion. They felt they had the right to be there and bunch of them got violent when they were not allowed access.”
At 11:58 PM, Ferrechio tweets again, adding: “There are many doors to get into the Capitol. People were walking in different doors and police were allowing them inside. The front east steps are NEVER used by the public and that is where the protesters who broke past the police headed.”
10:49 PM: Major Bowser and DC police officials hold a live public safety update. She says: “Despite having zero representation, having no votes, in the same Congress
where this siege took place today, to the Metropolitan Police Department of DC Police, Chief Contee, the entire command staff and our officers who performed admirably, you made us proud. You are the patriots, not the people we saw storm the building.”
10:56 PM: DC Police announces that they have made 52 arrests so far, had recovered pipe bombs from both the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill and had found a vehicle with weapons and Molotov cocktails.
In addition to Ashli Bobbitt, shot and killed by USCP, three other individuals died due to “medical emergencies.”
11:07 PM: Henry Rodgers of Daily Caller tweets: “SOURCE tells me: [Marc Short] Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence is being denied entry back into the White House. Working to confirm.”
11:08 PM: After more than two hours of debate, the House takes a vote on the motion to disqualify electors from Arizona: “Shall the objection to the Arizona electoral college vote count submitted by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) and the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz) be agreed.” The vote is 121 Yea, 303 Nay, and 7 not voting. The objection was not agreed to.
The Clerk of the House notifies the Senate of the action of the House, informing the Senate that the House is now ready to proceed in joint session with the further counting of the electoral votes.
11:21 PM: Jenny Gathright of WAMU Radio tweets: “USCP has not responded to any of my repeated inquiries today. It was the Mayor’s office who confirmed the fatal police shooting in the Capitol for me earlier, and the D.C. police chief who addressed it in a presser tonight.”
11:26 PM: Daniella Diaz of CNN tweets a video of law enforcement officers, exhausted, sitting in the Capitol rotunda, catching their breaths.
11:28 PM: Igor Bobic of Huffington Post tweets: “I still can’t believe today actually happened. I’m trying to process but it’s just not happening. I’m thinking of my family in Bosnia watching these scenes and can’t help but feel ashamed where we are now.”
11:34 PM: Steven Nelson of the New York Post tweets: “Sen. Josh Hawley tells me ‘yes’ he will still object to Pennsylvania electors, despite intense peer pressure within GOP after today’s break-in.”
11:35 PM: House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving announces that Vice President Mike Pence and the Senate of the United States are joining the Joint Convention of the two Houses.
The Secretary of the Senate read the order of the Senate, as follows: “Ordered, That the Senate by a vote of 6 ayes to 93 nays rejects the objection to the electoral votes cast in the State of Arizona for Joseph R. Biden, Jr., for President and Kamala D. Harris for Vice President.”
From there, the certificate of the State of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia and Florida are accepted. Then an objection is raised on the electoral votes on the State of Georgia. However, Senators have removed their support (“following the events of today”) and the objection is not entertained.
11:56 PM: Elizabeth Landers of Vice News tweets: “.@Markwarner just told me that he’s been in contact with Trump Cabinet members and said, “I would so wish that every fricking Cabinet member would walk through the halls of this Capitol right now, see the destruction and then make a judgment whether Donald Trump should stay.”
11:57 PM: Burgess Everett, Marianne Levine, and Melanie Zanona write in Politico:
“Republicans started the day losing the Senate. They ended it with President Donald Trump’s supporters losing their minds...”
Jeff Walters, a member of the Carpentry Shop of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), responsible for the physical plant, later says: “There’s not a whole lot that surprises us anymore, but seeing the overall condition of the building that night, that, I would have to say, was a bit shocking. I’ve been with the Architect of the Capitol for maybe 22, 23 years. So I’ve seen a lot of the things that have gone on here, but I’ve never seen the building in such disarray” he said.
There was lots of debris and broken glass, some broken furniture, broken windows and broken doors, some of the interior, historic doors, damaged beyond repair.
The Joint Session will deliberate on. An objection was raised on the State of Michigan, but the rules require that it be in writing and endorsed by a Senator. But there is no supporting Senator, and the objection is not entertained. An objection was raised on the State of Nevada, but again there is no supporting Senator and the objection is not entertained. An objection is raised on the State of Pennsylvania and there is debate before the motion fails. At 3:40 a.m., Vice President Pence announces that the electors final vote is 306 for Joe Biden and 232 for Donald Trump.
“This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States, each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January, 2021, and shall be entered, together with the list of the votes, on the Journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Vice President Pence says.
At 3:48 AM, the House was adjourned.