The Other Jan. 6 Tapes: Newly Obtained Videos Show Trauma Of Attack For House Democrats

Shock, last goodbyes and anger were still fresh in their minds in interviews conducted shortly after the insurrection attempt.

One House member texted his wife what he feared was a final goodbye. One recalled the look of pure hatred in the attackers’ eyes. Another would never forget the whine of a hundred gas masks, all operating at once.

For some House Democrats who were in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and experienced the insurrection from a unique vantage point — being the target of the attack — those were the memories that stood out shortly afterward.

Prior to Jan. 6, the U.S. Capitol had not been sacked since the War of 1812. But on that day, a pro-Donald Trump mob, many of whom marched to the Capitol directly from his speech urging them to “fight like hell,” clashed with police, broke into the building, and chased lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence into hiding. The riot lasted for hours, with the mob arriving at the Capitol shortly before 1 p.m. and police clearing the building around 6 p.m. Five people died.

While the attack inspired bipartisan revulsion at the time, that consensus has eroded ahead of its three-year anniversary Sunday. Now, some on the right say too much has been made of the violence, pointing to protesters who walked into the Capitol well after the first groups of attackers.

But newly obtained video interviews of House Democrats who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 show vividly how traumatic that day was. As mini time capsules, they include a level of detail and rawness that will be hard to replicate as Jan. 6 recedes further into the past.