46 NEWSWEEK.COM FEBRUARY 12, 2021
chambers and ofɿces of the 8 .S. Capitol.”“Soon afterŤ is more than two hours later,
at least at the Capitol building itself.7:24 PM: Ali =aslav of CNN tweets from
the basement of the Capitol complex “)BI
and 8 SCP preparing for senators to move.”7:24 PM: Susan )errechio of the Washing-
ton Examiner tweets “IŠve been out talking
to the protesters who busted into the Cap-
itol. 2 ne thing IŠm hearing They believed
they had a right to be in a public building
and did not expect cops to block their
access some were allowed in . A subset of
this group, they said, got out of control.”
She later writes that protestors she
talked to said that they planned a peaceful
occupation. “It just got cra]y, thatŠs all I can
say,” a protester from Michigan told the
Washington Examiner as he walked away
from the Capitol hauling a Trump ʀag.”
Another protestor from Texas said that
the crowd at ɿrst acted peacefully, but dis-
order escalated when Capitol Police moved
to prevent them from mounting the (ast
)ront stairs and entering through the center
door. “)rom moment one, there was resis-
tance from the police ofɿcers to allow us to
access a public building,” the protester said.
While the Capitol siege was described
by many as a coup, the do]en protesters
interviewed by the Washington Examiner
denied it and said their demonstration was
intended to be akin to demonstrations in
which activists occupy public buildings.”7:25 PM: Republican Conference Chairman
Rep. /i] Cheney R-W< tweets “We just
had a violent mob assault the Capitol in an
attempt to prevent those from carrying out
our Constitutional duty. There is no Tuestion
that the President formed the mob, the
President incited the mob, the President
addressed the mob. +e lit the ʀame.”7:26 PM: Sean 'avis, co-founder of #
)'R/ST tweets “IŠve talked to multiple
people today who arrived at the Capitol
and believed it was open. They thought
they were allowed to be in there, which
might explain why you saw so many
people carefully staying inside the vel-
vet rope line in several pictures.”
'ave Weigel of The Washington Post
responds “-ust an incredible post by
one of the most dishonest people ...”Susan )errechio of the Washington
Examiner responds “Were you there" ItŠs
what protesters said That they were in
Capitol but not part of the big wrecking
crew. Sorta like when we interview the peo-
ple şnearŠ the people burning down stores
who just showed up to peacefully protest.
Same dynamic, inconceivable to some.”7:29 PM: Marissa -. /ang of The Wash-
ington Post tweets a video “'C police
seem to be kettling some of the remain-
ing Trump supporters near the reʀecting
pool by the Capitol. “TheyŠre putting
us in a penŜlike animals” a man was
yelling. There are a lot of cops here
now. Crowd still yelling, “traitors”7:30 PM: K. Tully-McManus of Roll Call/
CQ Now tweets “...>Rep.@ Tim Ryan >'-
2+, chairman of the /egislative Branch
Subcommittee of the +ouse Appropriations
[email protected] mad as hell about 8 SCP re-
sponse today his committee funds 8 SCP.
“There were clearly enormous strategicand planning failures by the Capitol Police,
by the Sergeant at Arms and anybody else
who was part of coordinating this effort.”
“There was enough time to prepare. I
had a number of conversations with the
Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police
as recently as last night and there was not
supposed to be anybody near the Capitol.”
“<ou can bet your ass weŠre going to
get to the bottom of it,” said Ryan. +is
subcommittee is in charge of funding
Capitol Police which is currently fund-
ed at 515.5 million for )< 2021 ”7:33 PM: Ali =aslav of CNN tweets a
video “+eavy law enforcement detail
escorting senators to the Capitol...”The video shows U.S. Capitol Police,
camouflage clad tactical teams from the
FBI and other agencies, as well as FBI
agents in plain clothes (wearing protec-
tive gear).7:36 PM: Alan +e of CBS News tweetsSPECIAL REPORT