Thread by @nytimes

"It's always going to haunt me." Before Jan. 6, the Capitol seemed almost impenetrable — a symbol of a secure democracy. For many, it's now tinged with trauma, anger and sadness.

We spoke to people who were there during the riot. Here's what they said. nyti.ms/39dty7q

As the mob breached the Capitol, Alisa La, who was working as a close aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, barricaded herself with her colleagues in a room in Pelosi’s Capitol office suite, hiding in the dark as rioters loudly ransacked it. nyti.ms/3ErowT1

Before heading to the Senate chamber to vote against the challenge to Arizona’s election results, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, stopped in her "hideaway" office in the basement of the Capitol. nyti.ms/3ErowT1

Remmington Belford, the communications director for Representative Yvette Clarke, Democrat of New York, was in the Rayburn House Office Building when rioters breached the complex. nyti.ms/3ErowT1

Capt. Carneysha Mendoza, commander of the Capitol Police’s Civil Disturbance Unit, was at home when she started getting frantic calls about violence at the Capitol. She raced to the scene and fought the mob for hours, suffering chemical burns to her face. nyti.ms/3ErowT1

Officer James Blassingame, a 17-year veteran of the Capitol Police, fought off the mob as some rioters shouted racist slurs at him. With another officer, he has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump for physical and emotional injuries. nyti.ms/3ErowT1

On Saturday, far-right activists will hold a rally to demand "justice" for those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, part of an effort by Republicans to play down or deny what happened.

It remains real for the people who were there. Read more. nyti.ms/3ErowT1