Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/627



In the minutes before the tweet, Fox News—on the President's screen—relayed that the Capitol was on lockdown; that Capitol police officers were injured; that rioters were in the building and "just feet from the House chamber." In the minutes afterward, networks would report there was tear gas in the Capitol, forcing Members of Congress to evacuate in protective masks. At 2:39 p.m., Secret Service agents reported that "[m]ore just got in."

"I don't know how they're gonna retake the Capitol building back at this point," one agent wrote to others two minutes later.

At 2:44 p.m., a Capitol police officer shot a rioter named Ashli Babbitt. A handwritten note—dashed off onto a White House pocket card and preserved by the National Archives—read: "1x civilian gunshot wound to chest @ door of House cha[m]ber." One White House employee saw the note on the dining table in front of President Trump. A barrage of text messages inundated Meadows's phone with a consistent plea. Everyone from conservative media personalities to Republican allies in Congress—and even the President’s own family—urged the President to do more: