Democrats tried to resume debate in the House, and that quickly ended when an official came and said that tear gas had been sprayed in the Rotunda and lawmakers should prepare to take shelter. It’s just pandemonium. The House chaplain — barely a few days into her new job — at one point is praying. Suddenly, people are pulling out these emergency escape hoods — basically a crumpled bag attached to this whirring machine — Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and a war veteran is standing on top of the chairs telling people how to use them. Lawmakers and security are pushing this big chest in front of the chamber doors — the ones Mike Pence just walked through! — to barricade us in.
I just remember crouching behind the gallery desk, struggling to open this box holding my escape hood, and then we start moving, people are yelling to get out of the chamber. There are these gold railings that separate the sections of the gallery, so I remember grabbing my laptop, my phone, a charger and just scrambling to get out, stepping on the seats, banging my knees. What’s faster — over the railing? Under the railing? I literally pulled this woman under a railing to help her get through.
The thing that’s seared in my mind is looking out from behind this chair and seeing the security detail with their guns drawn pointing at the shattered window of the chamber door. I texted my editor: “Guns drawn.” You could see people on the other side, through the shattered window, yelling, people trying to reason with them. I texted my loved ones that I loved them, because in that moment, I just feared that people would start shooting.
I remember turning the corner of the chamber — I can now see the exit — but then there’s this bang and we all just drop to the floor. “GET DOWN.” I’m on the top of the staircase, and I remember trying to think whether I would be more covered by this auditorium chair or the cluster of the CSPAN cameras at the bottom of the staircase. But I decided not to risk the exposure of scrambling down those stairs.
