How Trump-supporting rioters stormed the Capitol
We analyzed videos, photos, social media posts, and more to reconstruct how a violent mob overpowered police and entered the Capitol
It was a dark day in US history: Hundreds of President Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday, as the House and Senate began to certify Joe Biden’s election as the country’s 46th president. Rioters overpowered police, broke windows, and entered the building, ultimately making it into the House and Senate chambers. The mob’s goal was seemingly to overturn the results of the election, after Trump had repeatedly falsely asserted that he was the true winner and that his supporters needed to fight back.
See below how the day unfolded.
Save America Rally
C-Span
A large crowd gathers to hear President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the president’s sons speak at a rally south of the White House. In his speech, Trump claims falsely that the election was stolen and that he would never concede. He calls on the crowd to "fight like hell" and urges them to march on the Capitol, which many of them then did.
Joint congressional session begins in the Capitol...
The session is brought to order at 1:03 p.m. by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after Vice President Mike Pence arrives. Arizona results are soon challenged by Representative Paul Gosar and Senator Ted Cruz, triggering separate two-hour debates in the House and Senate.
...while the protesters march from the Trump rally
Trump supporters clash with police outside the building, pulling down barricades. Outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund tells Capitol security officials, House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger that he wants an emergency declaration and to call in the National Guard.
Rioters breach and storm the Capitol
@mattmiller757/Twitter
@mattmiller757/Twitter
Trump supporters — some of whom had walked from the rally — push past police and break down barriers. Some ran up the Capitol steps, others scale the walls of the exterior. At the top, they attempt to break windows, and bang on the doors.
Vice President Pence narrowly avoids the mob
Jazmine Ulloa/Globe Staff
Mike Pence leaves the Senate floor and, along with his wife and daughter, is moved to a nearby office by Secret Service officers. One minute later, rioters chase Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a flight of stairs to a landing on the second floor, less than 100 feet from where the Vice President was hiding.
Sometime later, the Vice President, his family, his chief of staff Marc Short, his press secretary Devin O’Malley, and several other staffers were moved from the office to a secure room in the Capitol complex by Secret Service officers.
The House and Senate are evacuated
Chaos ensues inside the Capitol
@cbszak, @hanbanana124, @mattmiller757/Twitter
Shots are heard inside, an intruder invades Pelosi’s office, and Trump supporters make it into the House and Senate chambers. The mob roams the Capitol.
The shooting
The disorder escalates, and US Capitol Police shoot 35-year-old Trump supporter and Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt as she tries to break through a barricaded door. She later died.
National Guard is activated
C-Span
After the mob had been in the Capitol building for at least an hour, the National Guard is called.
Biden and Trump speak
Biden condemns…
President-elect Biden calls the men and women who invaded the Capitol a “mob” of “extremists.” He also demands President Trump come on TV and denounce the protesters, which Trump did not do.
...while Trump says ‘you are special’
Trump asks supporters to leave peacefully, but also says, “we love you, you’re very special.”
Officials declare the US Capitol complex secure
After the violent mob of Trump supporters occupy the building for four hours, they are expelled.
Twitter suspends Trump’s account
After tweeting false statements about having the election stolen from him, the social media company retracts the tweets and says it will suspend his account for 12 hours.
Congress reconvenes to resume counting electors
C-Span
Lawmakers come back to finish the process they started hours earlier: the certification of electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden. At 3:45 a.m., Biden is certified as winner of the 2020 election.
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