NEWSWEEK.COM 49
SPECIAL REPORTpast the police line got grabbed.”
8:51 PM: 8 .S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the
Southern 'istrict of Texas tweets “What
happened today in Washington was despi-
cable and illegal. Storming a government
building is not a protest, itŠs anarchy. Arrest
them, charge them, and incarcerate them.”
“And if these clowns today donŠt think
the capitol police, )BI, )PS and oth-
ers wonŠt be pouring over open source
and other video to make cases, theyŠre
wrong. If any of these leads points to
S'T; >Southern Texas@, weŠre on it.”
8:55 PM: K. Tully-McManus of Roll Call/
CQ Now tweets a statement from =oe
/ofgren '-CA , Chair of the Committee
on +ouse Administration “The breach
today at the 8 .S. Capitol raises grave
security concerns. I intend to have the
Committee on +ouse Administration work
with the bipartisan +ouse and Senate
leadership to address these concerns and
review the response in coming days.”
8:55 PM: Igor Bobic of +ufɿngton
Post tweets “(very senator is going to
speak because of course they are.”
8:58 PM: Senate Minority /eader Schum-
er tweets “Those who performed todayŠs
reprehensible acts were rioters, insurrec-
tionists, thugs, domestic terrorists. They
donŠt represent America. They were violent
extremists who tried to take over the Capitol
They must be prosecuted to the full extent.
But tonight 'emocracy will triumph.”
9:02 PM: Speaker Pelosi brings
the +ouse back into session.
“Today, a shameful assault was made
on our democracy. It cannot, howev-
er, deter us from our responsibility to
validate the election of -oe Biden and
Kamala +arris. )or that reason, Con-
gress has returned to the Capitol.
“We always knew that this respon-
sibility would take us into the night,
and we will stay as long as it takes...
“...To those who stoked deterrence from
our responsibility, you have failed. To those
who engaged in the gleeful desecration
of this, our temple of democracy, Amer-
ican democracy, justice will be done.
“...despite the shameful actions of today
...We will be part of a history that shows the
world what America is made of, that this
assault, this assault is just that. It shows the
weakness of those who have had to show
through violence what their message was.”9:04 PM: Rep. Ilhan 2 mar '-MN
tweets and releases a statement saying
that she has introduced articles of im-
peachment against 'onald Trump.”9:10 PM: The AP reports that New <ork
*ov. Andrew Cuomo is sending 1,000
members of the stateŠs National *uard
to Washington, 'C, to help “the peace-
ful transition of presidential power.”9:10 PM: -ennifer -acobs of Bloomberg
News tweets “...TrumpŠs national secu-
rity adviser Robert 2ŠBrien, 2ŠBrienŠs
deputy Matt Pottinger and Trump deputy
chief of staff Chris /iddell are consid-
ering resigning, sources tell me...”Later it was learned that Deputy National
Security Advisor Pottinger resigned
Wednesday afternoon, dismayed by
President Trump’s role in inciting violence.
Pottinger said he had intended to resign
election day, regardless of the outcome,
but stayed on at O’Brien’s request.9:15 PM: Richard +all of The Independent
8 K tweets his article, “Surrounded by
men dressed for war, I saw TrumpŠs fascism
at the heart of American democracy.”
“The crowd started to move before
he had ɿnished talking. I walked behind
a group of men in military fatigues who
held a radio up to a megaphone so they
could continue listening to Trump. There
were many groups like them wander-
ing around militias, Proud Boys, men
wearing knee-pads and stab vests. Men
dressed as if they were going to war.
“...I arrived at the foot of the Capitol
building to ɿnd that several thousand
protesters had already trampled over
the small outer security fences and were
stationed at the bottom of the steps. They
took their place in front of a thin line of
Capitol police who, it was clear from the
beginning, were disastrously ill-prepared.
“As the crowd swelled from the back,
it became more violent at the front.
Perhaps a few do]en of the mob were
pushing and testing the police.”
“...Men in camouʀage gear acted as
if they were generals in some foreign
battleɿeld. şSoldiers forward Soldiers