J6 - The Attack

The violence was shocking. Purposeful, cruel, and exuberant.

The US House Select Committee on January 6 studied the 2021 Insurrection at the Capitol exhaustively. In their final report, they provided a detailed account of the timeline of the attack (J6 Committee docs or web-text for Chapter 8).

The following is adapted exclusively from contents of their final report. Changes in the original text are marked by [..] or {…}

These are the events of that day:..

8.2 March of the Proud Boys & 8.3 The Initial Attack [10:30 am to 1 pm]

10:30 am, Proud Boys {200-300 of them} started their march down the National Mall towards the U.S. Capitol. {They had gathered at the Washington Monument, away from the Trump Rally.} They arrive on the west side of the Capitol shortly after 11 …. taunting USCP officers.

12:49 pm, Proud Boys and their associates launched the attack on the U.S. Capitol … By the time [Trump] rally-goers arrived, the Proud Boys and their allies had already removed the fencing that stood in the crowd’s way.

12:51 pm, a rioter {was observed} with his arm around Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs {and claimed} that Biggs encouraged him to push through the barricades ... when [he] hesitated to follow through, Biggs “flashed a gun, questioned his manhood and repeated his demand” to move to the front and “challenge the police.” Biggs has contested {this} version of events.

• After speaking with Biggs, [this rioter] breached the outer fencing of the Peace Circle.

12:54 pm, Rioters pushed USCP officers to the ground, removed the fencing, and quickly stormed east towards the U.S. Capitol building.

• {an officer} was thrown to the ground, causing her to hit her head on concrete steps ….

• Two Proud Boys from New York, … were among those leading the march to the next line of security barriers. [One] dragged part of the fence away at the next security barrier, ensuring that USCP officers were left defenseless …

• Parallel to the Peace Circle, at the Garfield Circle walkway located at the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds, rioters breached the fencing and began rushing the West Plaza where they would converge with other …

12:58 pm, the crowd filled the lower West Plaza of the Capitol just below the inauguration stage that had been built for the ceremony scheduled two weeks later …

1:11 pm, the first group of MPD officers arrived on scene almost precisely as President Trump finished his Ellipse speech. The MPD officers initially pushed back the rioters on the West Plaza, slowing them down before they would later breach the Capitol.

8.4 President Trump’s Mob Descends on the U.S. Capitol [1 to 2 pm]

1:06 pm, “There’s enough people here to storm the Capitol,” a member of the crowd said … just as the President was concluding his remarks.

• Toward the end of his speech at the Ellipse, President Trump made sure an already angry crowd of his supporters stayed enraged. “We fight like hell[,] and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” the President told the tens of thousands of people who had assembled at the Ellipse, or in the vicinity.

• About one minute later, President Trump directed those in attendance “to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue . . . to the Capitol.” The President told the people they were “going to try and give” Republicans, including his own Vice President, “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

• {A person in the crowd} livestreamed a diatribe as he marched towards the Capitol … “I’m hearing that Pence just caved . . . I’m telling you if Pence caved, we’re gonna drag motherfuckers through the streets.” “Cut their heads off!”

• “We’re getting ready to go march on Capitol Hill. We’re gonna go fuck some shit up,” [said another]. “We’re getting up front, and we’re taking this shit.”

• Oath Keeper on social media “Stop the Steal J6.” And “100%” of the Ellipse crowd was “marching on the Capitol,” because “it has spread like wildfire that Pence has betrayed us.”  Then closer to the Capitol “I’m probably gonna go silent when I get there ’cause I’m a be a little busy.

• a Three Percenter from Texas who claimed to be allied with Proud Boys told a reporter he wanted his face recorded on video … “I want the enemy to know exactly who is coming after them.”

1:51 pm, {Alex Jones of Infowars and Ali Alexander of Stop the Steal are} standing together as Jones encourages the crowd to proceed to the east side of the Capitol. … Jones has repeatedly claimed that he tried to calm the crowd, but his actions also coincided with two police line breaches and one breach of the Capitol building itself.

1:57 pm, newly arrived protestors breached the bike rack fencing used to keep the crowd away from the east side steps.

2:00 pm, {Alex Jones had departed} from the west side, rounding the north side of the Capitol on the way, to the east side … As he was walking, Jones told his group, “those fucking cops need to fucking back off man.”  … evidence showed that Jones simultaneously called on the crowd to “fight” and start a “revolution,” while occasionally peppering his rhetoric with the word “peacefully.”

Rioters Outside the Capitol (as shared by user taptheforwardassist on wikimedia commons cc by-sa 4.0, filename dc capitol storming img7965)

8.5 The Mob Surges [2-3 pm]

1:49 pm, MPD declared a riot at the Capitol

• Far-right extremists continued to lead the charge as protestors streamed onto the U.S. Capitol’s restricted grounds. On the north side of the West Plaza, there was a scaffold with stairs used by construction workers to build the inauguration stage. Law enforcement officers were stationed at the base of the stairs, preventing rioters from climbing to the upper West Plaza, where doors to the Capitol building itself were located … {rioters, including Proud Boys} gathered in front of this scaffold on the northwest corner of the Capitol.

• {a rioter from} a Three Percenter group from Texas … stood at the front of the pack near the scaffold, carrying a pistol and flexicuffs. He wore body armor under a blue jacket and a helmet with a mounted body camera. [He] advanced on the police line, absorbing rubber bullets and pushing through chemical spray. …. “[T]here was no reason for me to give up because I had come so far to do what I wanted, what we wanted and needed to do. And I had a mindset. I didn’t mean to actually be the first guy up there. I didn’t even mean to do that. I just, the adrenaline and knowing that I can’t let my country fall.”

• A member of the Proud Boys helped lead the charge up the scaffolding stairs … While wearing a blue cap with white lettering that read, “Gods, Guns & Trump,” [he] pushed police officers backwards, clearing a path for the rioters.

• Another Proud Boy sprayed officers with OC (or pepper) spray.

2:00 pm, rioters at the top of the scaffolding stairs were only feet away from Capitol building doors and windows.

8.6 The United States Capitol is Breached

{… at West Plaza …}

2:13 p.m, a Proud Boy from New York, smashed a window on the Senate wing. This was the first breach of the Capitol building. [he] used a riot shield he stole from a law enforcement officer to break through the window.

2:16 p.m., rioters pushed opened a second door, the Senate fire door, from the inside.

• The first person to enter the Capitol building was a Kentucky native …

• an individual from Colorado affiliated with Three Percenters who espoused conspiracy beliefs, climbed through the Senate wing window.

• a QAnon adherent, was part of this first cadre of people to enter the Capitol as well …{he hold authorities that he} “intentionally positioned himself to be among the first people inside the United States Capitol because . . . he wanted to have his t-shirt seen on video so that ‘Q’ could ‘get the credit.’”

• the “QAnon Shaman” also entered through the Senate wing door at approximately 2:14 p.m.

• {a rioter} and his son … entered the building through the Senate wing window …. carried a Confederate Battle Flag with him and unfurled it inside the building … According to court filings, [the son] helped punch out the Senate wing window …

[Same Time Frame]: After breaking in, some of the first rioters headed north toward the Senate chambers.

• Officer Eugene Goodman, a USCP officer, intercepted them before they headed up the stairs leading to the chambers. Immediately after entering, a rioter asked Officer Goodman, “Where are the [M]embers at?” and “where are they counting the votes?” 

• [a group of rioters] stalked Officer Goodman through the halls of the Senate.

• [a rioter] demanded that Officer Goodman and other USCP officers arrest Vice President Pence. [another] chanted, “This is our America!”  Other rioters who entered through the Senate wing door clashed with police offices at the Senate carriage door located on the northeast side of the Capitol.

• When the rioters followed Officer Goodman up the stairs to the Senate Chamber, they were stopped by a line of USCP officers outside the Ohio Clock Tower.

• Joe Biggs of the Proud Boys entered the Capitol shortly after the first breach … 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!” …

2:16 p.m, just 3 minutes after the Senate wing was first breached, five individuals associated with the Nick Fuentes’s white nationalist “America First” movement entered the U.S. Capitol …

• [several] made their way to various points inside and outside of the Capitol after the initial breach, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s conference room and office, as well as the U.S. Senate Chamber.

• After exiting the Capitol, the group went to the north side of the building. [two of them] allegedly used a “metal barricade” to assault a law enforcement officer who was defending the North Door.

• [several] also allegedly helped others destroy media equipment.

• [another], directed rioters up a staircase to Speaker Pelosi’s office and was accused of aiding and abetting the theft of a laptop found there.

• an Army Reservist from New Jersey who was identified by a confidential source to law enforcement as an “an avowed white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer,” entered through the Senate wing breach around 2:14 p.m. [He] “[u]sed tactical hand signals” to direct other members of the mob, and he commanded them to “‘advance’ on the Capitol.” Afterwards, he bragged to a friend that January 6th was “exhilarating,” that he hoped “for a ‘civil war,’ and that the ‘tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.’” 

• [another person] was also among the first rioters to enter the Capitol, and he made his way into the Crypt {while} wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt.

2:43 pm, 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.

2:48 pm, 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.

{… at East Plaza ….}

2:06 pm, 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….

 2:24 pm, rioters gained entrance to the Capitol through the doors leading into the Rotunda …

2:38 pm, Law enforcement officials were able to thwart the initial breach of the doors leading into the Rotunda … they temporarily regained control and stopped rioters from entering. But their success was short-lived. Within ten minutes, the doors were breached once again. And two members of the Proud Boys … helped lead the attack.

• When the rioters reached the Columbus Doors, they were again stopped by USCP officers, …. But the rioters pushed them against the doors and sprayed them with OC spray (commonly known as pepper spray)

• Shortly after ….. [rioters] were able to breach the Columbus Doors

[Same Time Frame], A military-style “stack” of Oath Keepers entered through the Columbus Doors as well.

• ·Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, monitored the attack on the Capitol from just outside

• Rhodes held a three-way call with two other Oath Keepers … Three minutes later, [“Stack 1”] started pushing through the rioters amassed on the East Plaza steps in a military-stack formation, with each person placing a hand on the shoulder of the person in front. This stack entered the Capitol around 2:40 p.m.

• One minute later, Rhodes was caught on camera on the Upper West Terrace responding to a rioter who said the Members of Congress must be “shitting their pants inside.” Rhodes replied: “Amen They need to shit their fucking pants. Sic semper tyrannis.” 

• Once inside, Stack 1 moved through the Rotunda. At 2:44 p.m., Stack 1 pushed into the Senate hallway, which was filled with officers blocking the way. “Push, push, push. Get in there. They can’t hold us,” …. the officers repelled their attack, pushing them back into the Rotunda.

• another group of Oath Keepers (“Stack 2”) pushed through the Columbus Doors at approximately 3:15 p.m. “This is my fucking Capitol. This is not yours. This is my building,”

The Oathkeepers and other rioters allegedly enter the Capitol (photo by DOJ as part of the case US v David Moerschel, public domain, archived at wikimedia commons)

{… The Rotunda …}

2:33 pm, The Upper West Terrace door, which leads directly into the Rotunda, was breached … rioters opened it from the inside ….

• Inside the Capitol, rioters broke through the police lines, such as in the Crypt, a space located directly underneath the Rotunda.

3:10 pm, The north doors were the last Capitol doors breached. ….rioters entered through the north doors where they were quickly met by USCP.

3:12 pm, a combination of USCP and MPD officers forcefully pushed the rioters out of the doors. However, rioters continued to attack just outside the north doors throughout the afternoon and evening.

• Rioters threw bricks at the doors and forcefully tried to stop police officers from clearing the area.

• Law enforcement officers briefly opened the inner doors to spray a chemical irritant that was intended to disperse the mob. But the rioters continued to fight.

• {One rioter} repeatedly threw a heavy projectile at the inner doors, while swearing at the officers … {Another gave a fellow rioter} a pair of goggles so he would withstand the chemical spray.

• Law enforcement held the doors, withstanding the mob’s best efforts to break in.

• As law enforcement officers started to clear the building, rioters continued to fight police officers at the tunnel on the West Plaza. Rioters violently struck officers, including MPD Officer Daniel Hodges, and sprayed them with OC spray.

8.7 President Trump Pours Fuel on the Fire

2:18 pm, {after the breach} … a mob quickly entered and headed towards the Senate and House Chambers …they chanted “Fight for Trump” and “Stop the Steal!” They also chanted “Nancy, Nancy” as they searched for Speaker Pelosi.

2:18 pm, the House went into recess as hundreds of rioters confronted USCP officers inside the Crypt, which is a short distance from the first breach point.

2:21 pm,, the rioters had tried to break through police lines, but they were temporarily unsuccessful,

2:24 pm, President Trump poured fuel on the fire, tweeting “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

• One minute later, the mob violently pushed through the USCP officers in the Crypt and continued moving south towards the House Chamber.

• A Proud Boy dressed in a Punisher shirt, was at the front of the line as rioters broke through in the Crypt.

• After breaking through the police line in the Crypt, the mob pursued USCP officers as they retreated to the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center (CVC). {The rioter in the Punisher shirt} was among the rioters who advanced into the CVC, where he came close to Senator Chuck Schumer.

• When the USCP officers attempted to lower metal barriers to halt the crowd’s momentum, another small group of Proud Boys immediately interceded to prevent the barricades from coming down.

• The Proud Boy contingent included three men from the Kansas City, Kansas area…{one of them wielded an axe handle} “to be used as both a walking stick and an improvised weapon” …

2:36 pm, the mob pushed through a line of USCP officers guarding the House Chamber. Rioters also entered the Senate Chamber.

• [the “QAnon Shaman”] entered the Senate Chamber, making his way to the Senate dais, where Vice President Pence had been presiding over the joint session. An officer asked [him] to vacate the dais, but instead he shouted, “Mike Pence is a fucking traitor.” [He] also left a note that read: “It’s Only a Matter of Time. Justice is Coming!”  …. [and] held a conspiracy-laden prayer session, saying: “Thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn. Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists, and the traitors within our government.” 

• Other extremists, including at least one associate of the white nationalist “America First” movement, also sat in the Vice President’s seat.

·{Same Time Frame}, While law enforcement fought to contain the mob inside the Capitol, the fighting raged outside as well. Key agitators continued to fire up the crowd. Nick Fuentes, the leader of the “America First” movement, amplified President Trump’s rhetoric aimed at Vice President Pence,

• Speaking through a bullhorn while standing on the Peace Monument, Fuentes shouted “We just heard that Mike Pence is not going to reject any fraudulent elector votes! That’s right, you heard it here first: Mike Pence has betrayed the United States of America. Mike Pence has betrayed the President and he has betrayed the people of the United States of America—and we will never ever forget!”

2:28 pm, ·As rioters flowed through the halls and offices inside the Capitol, others broke through the defensive lines of USCP and MPD officers on the lower West Plaza … allowing them to take over the inauguration stage ,,, MPD officers were then forced to conduct the “first fighting withdrawal” in the history of the force, with law enforcement seeking to “reestablish defensive lines” to prevent the “crowd that had swelled to approximately 20,000 from storming the U.S. Capitol.”

• After surging through the West Plaza, rioters quickly headed towards the West Plaza tunnel. The violence that escalated at 2:28 p.m. on the lower West Plaza continued as rioters reached the tunnel. By 2:41 p.m., law enforcement retreated inside the tunnel, allowing rioters to slowly fill in.

• Just ten minutes later, the mob jammed the tunnel, desperately trying to break through the police lines. The fighting in and immediately outside of the tunnel raged for over two hours.

• Throughout the afternoon, members of the mob struck officers with weapons, shot them with OC (or pepper) spray, and dragged officers from the tunnel into the crowd.

• a Three Percenter from Texas who carried a baton on January 6th, pushed a riot shield into and on top of police officers at the tunnel. The crowd chanted “heave-ho!” as [he] did so.

• {Another rioter} sprayed a chemical or pepper spray at officers and pushed the front of the line in the tunnel.

• {Yet another rioter} …with a long prior criminal history, participated in multiple assaults and violence at the tunnel, including using a pole to jab at police officers. [His] 16-year-old son was present during the fighting.

• [A] former Army Ranger who wore a military-style vest, participated in a heave-ho effort in the tunnel where he and rioters had created a shield wall.

• [another] passed a large cannister of spray back and forth before [his] companion sprayed officers and then the two joined in the heave-ho.

·Especially Shameful.

• One of the most brutal attacks of the day occurred outside the tunnel when rioters dragged MPD Officer Michael Fanone into the crowd, and then tased, beat, and robbed him while a Blue Lives Matter flag fluttered above him. {One assailant} grabbed Officer Fanone around the neck and pulled him into the mob. “I got one!” {Another} “swung his arm and fist” at Officer Fanone, grabbed him, and pulled him down the stairs. {A 3rd rioter} then tased him in the neck. {A 4th} lunged towards Officer Fanone, restraining the officer’s wrist. {Yet another} reached towards him and forcibly removed his police badge and radio. Officer Fanone feared they were after his gun. Members of the crowd yelled: “Kill him!,” “Get his gun!” and “Kill him with his own gun!”

Video of the January 6 attack, as played by the Select Committee in their first Hearing. (served by NBC News on youtube)

8.8 The Evacuation

2 -3 pm, When rioters surrounded the perimeter of the Capitol, and reached the Senate and House Chambers, Members were forced to evacuate for safety.

2:12 to 2:29 pm, Vice President Pence was escorted off the Senate floor at 2:12 p.m. and was taken to his Senate office.

• Secret Service agents worked to identify potential threats and a route that could be used to transport Vice President Pence.

• One of the issues for Vice President Pence’s evacuation was that the rioters were outside the Ohio Clock Tower, which was just feet away from the staircase that Vice President Pence could descend to evacuate.

• Eventually, after the mob started filling the entire Capitol, the Secret Service made the decision to move Vice President Pence, and he was escorted from the Senate at 2:25 p.m.

• By 2:27 p.m., the Vice President can be seen moving toward a secure location connected to the Capitol. The Vice President arrived at the secure location at 2:29 p.m.

• Following the Vice President’s evacuation, Senators were evacuated.

2:12 to 2:25 pm, On the House side, Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn were removed from the House floor at the same time as Vice President Pence.

• By 2:18 p.m., USCP surveillance showed Speaker Pelosi in the basement hallway headed towards the garage … also showed Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn in the same basement as Speaker Pelosi.

• At 2:23 p.m., Speaker Pelosi and Whip Clyburn were moved to an undisclosed location

• Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was evacuated just after Speaker Pelosi left the Capitol. At 2:25 p.m., as rioters were moving through the Crypt and breaking through the east Rotunda door, Leader McCarthy and his staff hurriedly evacuated his office.

• At approximately 2:38 p.m., the Members of Congress on the House floor began their evacuation.

2:44 pm, Members of Congress can be seen evacuating through the Speaker’s Lobby when a USCP officer fatally shot Ashli Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. Members and staffers were just feet away when Babbitt attempted to climb through a shattered glass door. USCP officers had barricaded the door with furniture.

2:49 pm, The congressional Members in the House Gallery were evacuated after the Members on the House floor. Congressional Members in the Gallery had to wait to be evacuated because rioters were still roaming the hallways right outside the Chamber … as Members were trying to evacuate the House Gallery, the USCP emergency response team cleared the hallways with long rifles so that the Members could be escorted to safety. USCP surveillance footage shows several rioters lying on the ground, with long rifles pointed at them, as Members evacuate in the background.

3:00 pm,, the area had been cleared and Members were evacuated from the House gallery to a secure location.

8.9 Clearing the U.S. Capitol Building and Restricted Grounds

3–6 pm, Law enforcement spent approximately three hours pushing rioters out of the Capitol building and off the East and West Plazas … The last point where rioters were removed was the lower West Plaza—the scene of some of the most intense hand-to-hand fighting that day. After law enforcement cleared the tunnel, where violence had raged for hours, police officers corralled rioters to the west and away from the Capitol building.

6:56 pm, a little more than an hour after the Capitol grounds were cleared, Vice President Pence returned to the Capitol from the loading dock.

Shortly after 8:00 pm,, the joint session of Congress resumed, with Vice President Pence saying: “Let’s get back to work.” 

Photo credit links img7965 and DOJ on Wikimedia Commons. Video from NBC on Youtube.