USA TODAY International Edition
Backstory: What we witnessed on the Mall
‘ We are done talking,’ Trump supporters say
USA TODAY’s journalists describe the death threats, damage, anger.
Rudy Giuliani was on the stage Wednesday at the National Mall demanding 10 more days to investigate the election. “We’ve got enough evidence,” yelled a woman in front of me. “We are DONE talking,” came a gravelly voice behind me. A bit lower he said, “Talking’s over.”
Shortly after, President Donald Trump stepped before the crowd, already whipped up by lies and dangerous rallying cries ( Giuliani had suggested “trial by combat“), and urged them to march to the Capitol and give Republicans certifying the lawful election “some boldness.”
“We’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump said. “And we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try ... and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
I was watching the protest speakers from the middle of Constitution Avenue, between the stage on the Ellipse and the Washington Monument. Packed crowds stretched between the two. Protesters dangled in the trees above. USA TODAY had journalists throughout the area.
The president of the United States had just incited a mob, which then marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and invaded the U. S. Capitol.
They had heard him loud and clear, on this day and all the days he’d been fomenting about the election and trying to overturn the will of the people.
“Talking’s over.”
They were even taking photos at the gallows someone set up across the street. “I am not sure who erected it,” Quintana said, “but the demonstrators seemed to love it. I saw people pose for pictures while holding a noose.
“That image stuck with me.” Reporter Trevor Hughes has covered dozens of major protests and riots. He said law enforcement response to this one was “mild.”
“I remember last summer watching as federal officers chased Black Lives Matter protesters through the streets of Portland, firing pepper balls at them for refusing to leave the area around the federal courthouse,” he said. “I can still hear the explosions of the tear gas canisters, over and over and over, dispersing crowds in which only a few people were actually throwing bottles or bags of flaming garbage.
“In comparison, the law enforcement response at the Capitol yesterday came across as deliberately low key.”
And then when officers would take action, Hughes said, many protesters were “indignant.”
“Many of the rioters felt like the police should have been on their side,” he said, “and they were surprised that there was even a little bit of tear gas used against them.”
Reporter Ryan Miller interviewed Olivia Durlester, 66, of Menifee, California, who said she was sprayed with a chemical agent at the Capitol.
Earlier in the day, the crowd of Trump supporters was peaceful, she said, but she added that some “casualties” were necessary for their cause.
“This nation needs more not less of this,” she said.
Congressional reporter Christal Hayes talked with Trump supporters from Louisiana who were part of the mob that stormed the building.
“They boasted about making it in and being able to protest and march freely throughout the building,” she said. “One of the protesters, who wouldn’t give me his name, laughed when asked whether police tried to stop them. ‘ They’d been defeated,’ he said of law enforcement. He said the officers were ‘ very courteous
to us. We walked right past them.’ “
Four people died in the riot. One was killed by law enforcement and three others died of medical issues.
Hayes surveyed the damage in the Capitol after the siege.
She shared on Twitter what she saw. “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.
“For those who haven’t visited the Capitol, it is not only a secure building, it has a certain decorum. It holds so much history and I’ve always felt a sense of amazement walking around the building. To see it like this was heartbreaking.”
As she walked the Capitol halls, Hayes talked with lawmakers who had been locked down.
Speaking of her interview with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D- Texas, Hayes said, “We talked about what it was like inside and what struck me was that typical lawmaker- reporter relationship had dissolved. The talking points were gone and we were fellow Americans talking about our experiences that day.
“She was on the verge of tears describing what the building means for our republic and that an American citizen’s blood was shed just steps from the Photojournalist Jasper Colt witnessed the mob attacking and smashing a TV crew’s equipment.
Journalists are a tough bunch. But of course they are affected by this, especially journalists of color covering a riot with so much racism: a Confederate flag in the Capitol, a noose outside, white supremacist Proud Boys throughout the crowd.
“I met some pleasant people yesterday. When people shared a smile or good morning, I’d like to think they were genuine,” said photojournalist Jarrad Henderson. But, he said, “once the sun went down and my phone died from all the ‘ are you OK’ messages, I started to feel an overwhelming sense of urgency. I needed to leave. My friends and family who texted me, knew what I was trying to ignore because of my journalistic integrity: It was not safe for me.”
To be a Black journalist in this time is exhausting, he said.
“‘ Murder the media’ is something I can’t unsee. How I felt yesterday is something I can’t un- feel,” he said. “I’m still somewhat in a state of disbelief, having been there to see the response of the police in Black Lives Matter Plaza last May and June and so on. I don’t compare suffering, but there is a tangible difference in how the police responded to both events. Black people have endured this treatment for a really long time. My press pass doesn’t exempt me. I’m still processing. I’m not sure when I’ll be done.”
And this is not over. Social media is full of “patriots” discussing their next moves.
Jessica Guynn reported Thursday that ADL, formerly known as the AntiDefamation League, has found that extremists on social media are celebrating what they regard as a huge success and, if they’re to be believed, have turned to planning their next target: Inauguration Day.
Reporter Chris Quintana was struck by how festive the insurrection was. “It almost felt like a music festival or something,” he said. “I saw many people, often clad in MAGA apparel, posing for photos in front of the Capitol after the break- in.”
Video journalist Hannah Gaber saw a sight “that made my blood run cold.” “I approached the Capitol Building from the National Mall and saw flags suggesting all kinds of loyalties other than American flags,” she said, “including two huge Trump flags draped across the front.”