House impeachment managers on Wednesday played gripping security video and frantic police transmissions of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, some of which had not aired publicly before.
Shortly after 1 p.m., as Trump supporters stormed perimeter barricades around the Capitol, an unidentified police officer called on his radio for reinforcements.
“They’re throwing metal poles at us!” the officer shouted. “They’re starting to throw explosives, fireworks material.”
Truly remarkable footage of Vice President Pence and his family being escorted out of the Senate chamber. President Trump was back at the White House, continuing to trash Pence, according to multiple people. pic.twitter.com/Vr3c5EBwTR
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 10, 2021
As the attacks grew more violent and the mob stormed toward the building, another emergency police call went out.
“We’re going to give riot warnings. This is now effectively a riot,” an officer said.
House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett, Virgin Islands Democrat, showed the Senate previously unseen security footage from inside the Capitol of demonstrators breaking into the Senate through windows.
She said the second man to enter through a smashed window has been identified as a member of the white supremacist Proud Boys group, dressed in full tactical body armor and carrying a baseball bat.
As the demonstrators swarmed into the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated from the Senate chamber at 2:14 p.m., narrowly missing demonstrators who were chanting for him to be hanged.
Ms. Plaskett said the rioters came within 100 feet of a location where Mr. Pence and his family were sheltering in place. They were evacuated to a more secure location 12 minutes later.
“They were coming at the urging of Donald Trump to keep Congress, a separate branch of government, from certifying the results of a presidential election,” Ms. Plaskett said, narrating the video. “You can see Vice President Pence and his family quickly moved down the stairs. The mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism because the vice president had refused to do what the president demanded and overturn the election results.”
Security footage shown at #impeachmenttrial shows Capitol police holding a member of the mob at gunpoint while congress-members are exiting mere feet away; the mob member allegedly tried to open the gallery door but was stopped by a tactical team. https://t.co/OKAzzhvIne pic.twitter.com/5cir723v0G
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2021
The video also showed rioters breaking into the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and searching for her. Arrest affidavits include statements from alleged rioters that they intended to kill Mrs. Pelosi, who had been evacuated by her security detail.
One of the rioters shown sitting at Mrs. Pelosi’s desk, Richard Barnett, 60, of Arkansas, was carrying a 950,000-volt stun gun ‘walking stick,” Ms. Plaskett said. She said the mob wanted to kill both Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Pence.
“They did it because Donald Trump sent them on this mission,” Ms. Plaskett said. “President Trump put targets on their backs, and his mob broke into the Capitol to hunt them down.”
JUST IN: House impeachment managers show previously-unseen security footage of Capitol breach.
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2021
“The second man through the window is wearing full tactical body armor…Others are carrying riot shields. Among this group are members of the Proud Boys.” https://t.co/OKAzzhvIne pic.twitter.com/4WJr4XI6Tt
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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