Thread by @LeahMillis

One year ago at 5:04pm, I took this photo of law enforcement using flash bang grenades & tear gas on a violent mob trying to break into the U.S. Capitol. It was hr 4 in my gas mask, helmet & bulletproof vest photographing hand-to-hand combat between police and American citizens.

I arrived at the east side of the U.S. Capitol a little after 11am, where a crowd was already gathering. They were fired up, yelling at lawmakers or anyone they could see entering the building. Ppl were especially hostile towards media, yelling and flipping us off.

A colleague sent a group text alerting us that a crowd had broken through barricades on the west side of the building, so I ran over.

It became clear fairly quickly that the thin line of police holding back the violent crowd was not going to be able to hold them. There was occasional tear gas & flash bangs, but not enough to deter so many people.

I heard the entire crowd yelling "heave, ho!" and realized they were about to break into the door on the level above me. I had avoided going up there for fear of no easy exit & getting trampled or attacked. So I climbed a the inauguration scaffolding to get a better view.

At this point it was about 4pm, I had very little cell phone service and did not find out until now that people had breached the building. I texted a colleague I knew was inside asking if they were ok. They just responded they had been attacked.

I stood up there for about an hour watching the crowd pass objects to the door and fight viciously with the police, who were trying to keep them at bay. People broke nearby windows, climbed in and out, removed furniture.

By about 4:50pm, reinforcements had arrived. They began using tear gas and flash bangs.

I took a few wide frames to capture the scene before climbing down. Not a day has gone by that I have not thought about 1.06.21. Thinking of my colleagues and those who work at the Capitol, today.

More backstory: