‘Senate being locked down’: Inside a harrowing day at the Capitol | bdnews24.com

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  >>Nicholas Fandos, Erin Schaff, Emily Cochrane, The New York Times 

Pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in a joint meeting of Congress to prove votes for the 2020 presidential election. President Trump's efforts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election were in danger on Wednesday. In a rally, a mob of Trump supporters swept Congress, and Trump again falsely claimed widespread voter fraud. (Eileen Schaff/The New York Times)

Supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. On Wednesday, many Trump sympathizers tried to shift the focus from the mob in Washington. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

On January 6, 2021, US Vice President Mike Pence walked down from the House of Representatives in a joint session of Congress to prove that the 2020 election results will be held on Capitol Hill in Washington, USA. Irene Schaff/Pool via REUTERS

On January 6, 2021 (Wednesday), on the same day of the joint meeting of Congress, the glass at the entrance to the rotunda of the Capitol shattered to prove the vote for the 2020 presidential election. President Trump's efforts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election were in danger on Wednesday. In a rally, a mob of Trump supporters swept Congress, and Trump again falsely claimed widespread voter fraud. (Eileen Schaff/The New York Times)

On January 6, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives reconvened a meeting to prove that after the Electoral College voted in the 2020 presidential election, a broken window was seen in the joint meeting of Congress.

On Thursday, January 7, 2021, a 2020 Trump scarf is wrapped around the Capitol in Washington, which is a remnant of Wednesday's riots. President Donald Trump’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election were in a dangerous situation on Wednesday. In a rally, a mob of Trump supporters swept Congress, and Trump once again falsely claimed that voter fraud was widespread. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times)

Under the press desk where I was standing, looking down at the room like a fish tank, Vice President Mike Pence had just been kicked out of the game without any explanation.

"We did have an emergency," a neon window sash that appeared in the middle of the conference hall yelled at a police officer. The officer and the janitor ran around, banging and locking the huge wooden door. The senators panicked and asked them to enter the room further.

Utah Senator Mitt Romney raised his hands angrily.

"This is what you got, guys," he yelled, referring to a dozen Republican colleagues who are challenging the president-elect Biden's victory, and the US Congress is meeting to affirm.

Everything has stopped now, and I have about 10 seconds to decide whether to run out or lock myself. I stayed and decided that no matter what I was going to do next, I should continue to watch the senator I was reporting there.

"The Senate is blocked," I texted the editor.

One minute later: "This is terrible."

The avid amateur photographer Senator Patrick Leahy took a few frames. Senator Amy Klobuchar blurted out and probably shot. The sound of silence enveloped the room, and the siren was crying outside.

The congressional police immediately turned and led the members into the well of the Senate and moved them out of the back door.

"What about us?" someone near me shouted from the balcony. The police yelled us to the basement.

Looking to the left, we see a series of senators winding forward into the narrow underground tunnel connecting the huge Capitol campus.

Senator Mitch McConnell (Mitch McConnell), 78 years old, is a majority leader and polio survivor. He is actually carried by his safety parts. Their hands are placed under his arms to make They held him steady when they were busy. The body of New York Senator Chuck Schumer clutched the suit behind his neck tightly. In order to keep a relaxed mood, my Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri ridiculed that interruption might speed up the debate.

When we climbed to the ground, we worked on Capitol Hill for several years, in a place I was familiar with, but the police officer urged us not to share the details of our location. We stayed there for about four hours. Later, after clearing and fixing the Capitol, we traced our footsteps with the staff who carried two mahogany boxes with certificates from the electoral college.

The Congress resumed counting, and night fell into the early morning, and I found myself wandering alone in a silent Capitol, studying the remains of an abandoned profession. The gorgeous tile floor is one of the jewels of the building, covered with powdered fire extinguisher and pepper spray residue.

The window into the Speaker’s Hall was broken, and I spent a few hours here torturing the councillors. The bench is upturned. Soft drinks were scattered in the hall. On the second floor, I found a few syringes and a defibrillator used on someone (I want to know who it was), and then I was left behind. — 

I could hear the protesters on the first floor of the Senate of the Capitol, so I heard noise downstairs. They came to the Ohio Clock corridor outside the senator's meeting room and shouted that they wanted to come in. I was shocked because they walked inside, thinking it would be an important moment of the day: a small group of protesters violated the Capitol.

I'm wrong.

I looked from the lobby to the rotunda and saw about a hundred people running around, yelling and pulling the podium. I took a lot of photos, and then went to the ceremonial door of the rotunda, where a policeman guarded the door to prevent hundreds of people from outside.

The mob gathered together and rushed to the officer, forcing the door to open, and many people poured in. I ran upstairs to avoid the crowd and better recorded what happened. Suddenly, two or three men in black surrounded me, asking to know who I worked for.

After that, I hyperventilated, not sure what to do. I know I need to stay away from the mob and hide the broken camera so that I won't be a target again. I came across Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s suite, but people destroyed her office, so I kept walking. Walking to her balcony, facing the National Mall to the west, I saw a large number of people covering the inaugural stage. I found a place to hide the camera there, then stood on the balcony and looked at the crowd, and then filmed with my phone. This is all I have left.

A person next to me said: "This will be the beginning of the civil war revolution."

At that time, the Congressional police began to deploy pepper spray or tear gas, and I knew I needed to find a hiding place. I don’t know where to go because I no longer have a parliamentary qualification. I ran to the third floor, opened the first door I saw, and hid in the corridor. I called my husband and the latter told me to keep calm and find a safer place.

The officer told us that it was not safe to leave and helped us find a room where we could enter the barricade. The other two photographers grabbed my hand and told me that it was okay and that they could be with them so that they could guarantee me. At that moment I will never forget their kindness. — 

After 2:15 pm, the assistants in the Chamber of Deputies began to quietly warn us to prepare for asylum. I thought about putting my school bag on the table opposite the Capitol, and then borrowing someone’s computer charger just in case. This is really stupid.

I saw a security detail that caused the majority leader, Maryland Representative Stanney Hoyer to rush out along with the other leadership. The police began to close the door of the gallery.

"We have someone violated the Capitol now," said the congressional police on the podium. He instructed to keep calm.

I just keep updating my story and need something to distract me. The councillors yelled. It feels unreal.

Suddenly, it seemed that every congressman had a duffel bag, pulled out the aluminum bag and emergency cover, and the staff was distributing them to reporters.

You might hear a bang outside, so I squatted behind the table, the real situation of the room was overwhelmed. I tore open the bag and struggled to open the hood. It was a hybrid gas mask with a tarp. It made loud noises and flashing red lights. I peeked from the table and could see Congressman Ruben Gallego of Arizona, USA, and an experienced man without a jacket sitting in a chair and shouting how to use a mask instruction of.

The officials dragged a huge wooden box in front of the gate of the House of Representatives chamber as a makeshift roadblock-the box that Vice President Mike Pence had just walked through, and put them on the box with voter cards. The floor was empty, except for the staff's assistant shouting everyone in the gallery to go out.

Facing down behind the auditorium chair, I could see several people smoking guns at the door of the barricade room. Representative Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma tried to reason with the person who hit the door. I began to think about how to stay behind the chair. Is it worth taking a few steps to see if the TV device provides more cover? But if people start shooting, will I be more susceptible? I stay where I am.

I sent a few "I love you" text, otherwise it would be frozen on the ground. I don't know what will happen. I just want them to know. — 

©2021 The New York Times Company

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