Lawmakers describe chaos from inside the chambers
By Meagan Flynn

The gas masks were underneath the chairs, easy for lawmakers to grab as a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Rotunda. “You could hear a pounding on the doors on the outside,” Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) said in an interview from a secure, undisclosed location on the Hill. “At that point they had us get our gas masks out.”

Evacuated from the chambers, lawmakers described unthinkable scenes of chaos from within the halls of Congress on Wednesday after thousands of pro-Trump rioters breached barriers outside the Capitol, entered the building and turned the debate over electoral votes into a lockdown situation.

As he listened to the mob “trying to ram up against the doors,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said all he could think about was his family. Reeling from the loss of his 25-year-old son last week, Raskin had taken one of his daughters and his son-in-law to the Capitol to watch the debates unfold over presidential electors, “because we wanted to be together,” he said.

Raskin was helping lead Democrats’ arguments against Republican objectors. “I thought I could show them the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America,” Raskin said. “What was really going through my mind was their safety because they were not with me in the chamber, and I just wanted us all to get back together.”

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) said members were told that chemical irritants had been deployed in Statuary Hall and, for a moment, planned for the possibility that they might be exposed to tear gas. Capitol Police were barricading the doors with tables and bookshelves, she said.

Spanberger, a former CIA case officer, said that it was a crisis she would only expect to see unfold in fragile countries halfway across the world. “It is a low for this country I never thought we would reach,” she said. “This is what we see in failing countries. This is what leads to a death of democracy.”

Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (D) said they hoped they could resume the counting of electoral votes this evening “so the world knows that despite this chaos, despite a lawless president, we will transfer power on Jan. 20,” Van Hollen said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/dc-protests-trump-rally-live-updates/#link-L7VRODYF45BZTG34YEFAVTCBXI

As pro-Trump protesters began to wander away from the Capitol, some showed up at Black Lives Matter Plaza, where a brawl erupted with anti-Trump protesters involving pepper spray and at least one Taser.

The scuffle near the plaza started about 5:30 p.m. and involved about two dozen people. After the fight played out for several minutes, including on local live television, D.C. police officers on bikes broke up the fighting. Protesters on both sides threw punches and pepper-sprayed each other, and an anti-Trump fighter could be seen using a Taser.

When D.C. officers arrived, they tackled brawlers and no injuries or arrests were immediately seen.

Acting attorney general calls the riots "an intolerable attack" on democracy

From CNN's Katelyn Polantz

Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen issued a statement Wednesday evening calling the violence at the US Capitol “an intolerable attack on a fundamental institution of our democracy.”

The US Capitol Police was initially protecting the building when protesters had surrounded the Capitol and the building was in lockdown.

Brinkley said he thinks Pence is now commander in chief, that Trump is acting "in an irrational manner"

He said questions are being raised in government agencies as to whether Trump is stable for the job.

"He has organized an insurrection against the United States."

Bush calls it an insurrection at the Capitol, says he's appalled at the reckless behavior of certain political leaders since the election.

Man in critical condition after climbing and falling from scaffolding at US Capitol

From CNN's Noah Gray

A 24-year-old male who was climbing the scaffolding on the west front of the US Capitol building fell more than 30 feet.

He is being taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to a source familiar.


He will probably sue the US Government - my comment

Virginia governor announces state of emergency in response to rioting at US Capitol

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he is issuing a state of emergency as well as setting at 6 p.m. ET curfew for the Arlington and Alexandria areas neighboring Washington, DC.

Read Northam's tweet:

At the request of @AlexandriaVAGov and @ArlingtonVA, I am declaring a 6PM to 6AM curfew in these jurisdictions, with limited exceptions.

I am also issuing a State of Emergency in Virginia, so we can continue to respond.
— Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) January 6, 2021

First wave of National Guard arriving at US Capitol will be unarmed

From CNN's Oren Liebermann

The first 150 DC Guardsmen are expected to arrive at the US Capitol at any moment, according to a senior Defense official.

These guardsmen are part of the new Guard forces activated today.

These Guardsmen are wearing protective gear and carrying riot equipment, but they have no lethal or non-lethal weapons, the source said.

Their sole purpose right now is to back up Capitol police and to help re-establish a perimeter around the Capitol. They will stay as long as is needed, based on the conditions on the street. They are not doing any law enforcement activities – and that will also be true of the remaining Guardsmen as they are ready to head for the Capitol.

There are no plans to bring in active duty troops at this point, the official said.

The original 340 Guardsmen that were requested earlier in the week remain in their positions and on the streets and are also not armed.

Capitol Police detain about 20 people

From CNN’s Laura Robinson

Approximately 20 people were seen in plastic hand-ties being put in the back of a Capitol Police van after exiting the Russell Senate Office Building.

Those people were seen being put in the back of a Capitol Police van on Delaware Avenue near Constitution Avenue shortly after 5:30 p.m. this evening.

At least 13 people were arrested amid the siege of the US Capitol by Pro-Trump rioters, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said Wednesday.

“We were looking at just above, just above 13 arrests, I should add very important note here that none of the arrest that occurred, were of DC residents, all the individuals who were arrested. All were from out of, out of the area," he said.

Contee said several officers are being treated for injuries and authorities have confiscated several weapons as riots have unfolded outside the US Capitol.

“We have reports about that there are several MPD officers that are, that are injured. But these officers are being tended to and still engaged in the fight to regain control of the Capitol although they are injured. They are still working and they're working very hard to regain control of the Capitol,” Contee said.

Contee said there were approximately “five weapons that have been recovered.”

A law enforcement source told CNN’s Pamela Brown that they are still clearing out rioters from inside the Capitol building and also clearing them off the inauguration stage and bleachers.