Thread by @RichieMcGinniss

THREAD:

I accompanied protesters all the way to the Senate Gallery doors.

Here you can see one protester deploy pepper spray on Capitol Police prior to entry

The protesters who entered started on the South Side of The Capitol, where officers attempted to stop them using pepper spray and tear gas

I scaled the inauguration media tower to get a better angle. This is the moment that the Capitol Police perimeter was breached by protesters

Here you can see how protesters overwhelmed the Cap Police perimeter with their sheer numbers before entering the building

Here’s another clip taken immediately after the perimeter was breached. You can see that tear gas had virtually no effect on the crowd

Protesters sing The National Anthem as the crowd rushed into The Capitol

Some hoisted Trump flags on the steps of the Inauguration bleachers

You can see how hectic things were as I entered The Capitol

CORRECTION: after reviewing the footage these are the doors to the HOUSE floor NOT the Senate

CORRECTION: this is the North Side of The Capitol. Apologies, I am a bit out of sorts after being pepper sprayed more times than I can count

This is the moment I entered the Capitol Dome

As I walked to the House doors through Statuary Hall, there were virtually no police inside

Here is the moment I arrived at the doors to The House

Reinforcements eventually arrived and forced everyone away from the doors

Once the doors were secured, we were pushed back into The Capitol Dome

A man lit up a doobie under the Capitol Dome

Another Capitol Rotunda pot smoker

Police eventually arrived in the Rotunda amidst “USA” chants

Protesters clashed with police inside The Rotunda

Law enforcement dressed in tactical gear arrived shortly after

While sandwiched in between police and a mob of pushing protesters, one officer swiped my Congressional press credential while I was attempting to display it. Still haven’t gotten it back yet.

At one point you can hear an officer say “everyone in here is under arrest,” but we were eventually escorted out of the Rotunda and police let us go

Police struggled to close the front doors just outside The Capitol

As the door to The Capitol was being closed I nearly lost my phone and lacerated my elbow on the broken window. After that I decided to call it a day.

END