Page:Materials in Support of H. Res. 24.pdf/17

 phone calls to loved ones. Representative Dan Kildee described in real-time what was happening, “I am in the House Chambers. We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks. Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber.”

Other Members also described the confusion and chaos as the siege closed in on the House floor. Representative Pramila Jayapal recounted how “Capitol police with us seemed very confused about who had the key to the doors. They were closed, but we weren’t sure if they were locked, and we were yelling, “‘ [sic]Lock the doors! Lock the doors!”’ [sic] We heard shots being fired, presumably into the chamber.” She noted that took more than an hour and half for Members sitting in the gallery to evacuate: “Before we knew it, everyone on the floor below us had been removed, and … we were still there. And it didn’t look like anyone was coming to get us.”

Many Members and staff were left traumatized by the experience. Representative Nancy Mace “felt unsafe returning to her hotel. What if rioters, who had just stormed and overtaken the Capitol building, were staying at her hotel? … She’d spent Wednesday huddled in someone’s corner office, then stuck in a tunnel, then hunkered in her office with the lights off, her children texting her with worry.” Although the insurrection began immediately following the conclusion of his speech, President Trump did not swiftly denounce the violence, or order his supporters to lay down their arms. To the contrary, as he watched the violence unfold on television, President Trump was reportedly “borderline enthusiastic because it meant the certification was being derailed.” President Trump’s reaction “genuinely freaked people out.” Senator Ben Sasse relayed a conversation with senior White House officials that President Trump was “walking around the
 * D. President Trump’s Response to the Insurrection