Stunned. Just stunned. 
“If I walked into my place of work tomorrow and I saw this, I’d be stunned myself,” one National Guard soldier tells me after I expressed my shock in some impolite terms
Rep. Andy Kim, who worked in Afghanistan, stood with me for a few minutes and took in the scene.
“How did it get so bad here? How did we get to this point as a country?” he asked
“How did it get so bad here? How did we get to this point as a country?” he asked
“One for the history books. We haven’t seen this in over 160 years, since the Civil War,” a National Guard soldier says to his buddy
There are at least a thousand, probably more, National Guard troops all over the Capitol Visitor Center, Emancipation Hall, and surrounding hallways. They’re sleeping in reception areas, the cafeteria, the entrance to the building. Everywhere.
One National Guard soldier, who is from Virginia, said he’s never been to the Capitol before. He asked me if the gift shop will open.
“We’re tourists too. This is kind of cool,” he said after I explained that tourists normally enter the building here
“We’re tourists too. This is kind of cool,” he said after I explained that tourists normally enter the building here
After I commented on the fact they’re sleeping on cold marble floors, and that they could some cots, one National Guard soldier politely declined.
He was afraid they would “destroy the floors of one of the coolest buildings in the world.”
He was afraid they would “destroy the floors of one of the coolest buildings in the world.”
use* some cots
Reps Michael Waltz and Vicky Hartzler handing out We The Pizza to some troops
Rep. Chris Smith, who had stopped by to say hello to guardsmen from his state of New Jersey, says the overwhelming show of force at the Capitol today is intended to "hopefully" have a "chilling effect on anyone who seeks to do harm"
I put my tweets and photos into one place where they could be more easily read, in some sort of page that you could share if you were so inclined, and my employer could therefore benefit huffpost.com/entry/national…
Talking to National Guard at the Capitol today, I was struck how young so many of them were. Barely out of school. First time ever visiting the Capitol, where kids their age would normally line up for tours. Now they’re here in uniform, carrying weapons.
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