Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/682

 Joe Biggs of the Proud Boys entered the Capitol shortly after the first breach. At 2:14 p.m., Biggs walked through the senate wing door and moved north. Part of his route was captured in videos posted on Parler, a rightwing social media site. Someone recorded the Proud Boys leader shortly after he entered the Capitol and asked him, "Hey Biggs what do you gotta say?" Smiling, Biggs replied: "this is awesome!" Other Proud Boys were seen with Biggs, or near him, as he entered the Capitol. One of them is Paul Rae, a Proud Boys member from Florida, who appears to have communicated directly with Biggs after they entered through the door. Another Proud Boy from Florida, Arthur Jackman, was seen with his hand on Biggs's right shoulder. Jackman "became involved in the Proud Boys to support Donald Trump," was in Washington on January 6th "to support President Trump and to stop the steal" and "believe[d] the election was stolen." Still another, Joshua Pruitt, who was clad in a Punisher shirt, entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door around this time. At approximately 2:17 p.m., 3 minutes after entering the U.S. Capitol for the first time, Biggs exited through another door.

At 2:43 p.m., law enforcement was able to regain control of the Senate wing door, forcing all the rioters out. But their success lasted for only 5 minutes. At 2:48 p.m., rioters again breached the Senate wing door, pushing law enforcement out of the way. The second breach was one of the more violent breaches of the day, with the mob forcefully pushing law enforcement backwards until the pathway was clear for them to enter.

While the Proud Boys and other extremists were overwhelming law enforcement at the West Plaza scaffolding, another group led the attack on security barriers on the East Plaza. At 2:06 p.m., a crowd broke through security barriers and charged a set of doors just outside the Rotunda. The mob's surge occurred just minutes after Alex Jones arrived on the scene. The crowd's cheers and celebration as they move up the steps can be heard while Jones's camera crew negotiates with USCP officers nearby.

Once rioters had filled the Rotunda stairs, Jones and his team, along with the Proud Boy Walter, ascended the stairs. They moved into the thick of the crowd at the top of the stairs, where Jones began calling for peace but also revolution, leading the crowd in chants of "1776" and other bellicose rhetoric. Publicly available video shows that Jones reached the top of the stairs at 2:18 p.m. Walter told the Select Committee that he thought Jones was successful in getting some people down, "but I also think that may have created enough space for people to be able to move, whereas before you couldn't move." Apparently, Jones's security team also realized he