Over and over again on Jan. 6, the mob that attacked the Capitol came within mere feet of their targets — members of Congress and the vice president.
Before the impeachment trial’s proceedings Wednesday, we’d heard reports of these near misses but had not seen video evidence of most of them. That changed with the introduction of multiple new video clips of the attack, taken from security cameras dispersed throughout the Capitol complex.
Officer warns Romney to change direction
Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman has received weeks of praise as a hero for his quick thinking during the riot: He provoked a crowd of rioters so that they would chase him, rather than potentially reach lawmakers.
But new footage Wednesday shows Goodman minutes earlier, after the rioters had breached the Capitol. The officer is seen running past Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and a staffer, urging them to follow him. They run with him away from danger.
Officer Goodman turns Sen. Romney away from danger during the insurrection pic.twitter.com/gukpzQo9zZ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 10, 2021
Pence and family hurried out after breach
It was only well after the rioters had breached the Capitol building that Vice President Mike Pence and his family were shuffled down a staircase to safety. They were held in a room off the Senate floor — but inside the building that was being ransacked.
Security cam footage shows Pence being ushered away: pic.twitter.com/qJH7Ojw5N4
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) February 10, 2021
Pelosi’s staff barricades within feet of rioters as they search for her
We’d known from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) staffers’ accounts that they had barricaded themselves inside one of the rooms in her suite in the Capitol. But we hadn’t known just how close they were from coming face-to-face with the mob.
Just seven minutes passed between when the staffers barricaded themselves and when rioters reached the inner office hallway just feet from where they hid, Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) explained.
Video shows Pelosi staffers barricading themselves minutes before rioters' arrival: pic.twitter.com/iszyEFixMG
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) February 10, 2021
Schumer and his security detail make quick turnaround
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was minority leader at the time, appears to have come quite close to danger.
Security video shown at trial shows him and his security detail escaping from danger down a hallway, then doubling back from whence they came, presumably either because they saw rioters themselves or were warned by law enforcement from going any further on their current path. Behind them, “officers immediately shut the door and use their bodies,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said.
Earlier, Rep. Swalwell showed security footage showing @SenSchumer's "near miss" with the mob. pic.twitter.com/gI0HR7BPYg
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) February 10, 2021
McGovern sees rioters, reps evacuate past arrest
Some video we had seen before, such as that of Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) coming within the sightline of rioters who attempted to break through a door to reach him and other members.
It was during this scene that the rioter Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer. That shot was heard within the House chamber, where some members were still stranded in the upper gallery.
What we hadn’t seen was the members’ evacuation: Past at least one rioter who police were holding at gunpoint, spread on the floor:
Members of Congress evacuate past a rioter under arrest: pic.twitter.com/lyj2qAf5Gb
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) February 10, 2021
