WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Previously unseen security camera footage from inside the Capitol during the siege on Jan. 6, 2020, was shown Wednesday during former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
The footage shows the moment the rioters broke through windows and entered the Capitol in a purported attempt to overturn the election results that certified Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Graphic content warning: House impeachment managers’ video of the Capitol assault is provided below:
“You can see that the rioters first break the window with a wooden beam and a lone police officer inside responds and begins to spray the first man who enters, but is quickly overwhelmed,” said House impeachment manager Del. Stacey Plaskett while showing the footage.
After the first man is confronted by the lone officer, the video shows several more people entering the Capitol — including at least one in “full tactical body armor, carrying a baseball bat” according to Plaskett.
The video was accompanied by a digital rendering of the group’s location in the Capitol.
Later in the video, U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman can be seen warning Republican Sen. Mitt Romney that rioters were headed his way. The video showed Goodman running toward Romney to warn him that the Capitol had been breached. After encountering Goodman, Romney turns around and runs.
After seeing the footage for the first time on Wednesday, Romney said he did not know he was that close to the rioters and looks forward to thanking Goodman in person.
“I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction,” Romney said.
Footage also showed rioters screaming and breaking into the Capitol. Some of the rioters grabbed fire extinguishers from the walls as they stormed through the hallways.
“Where are they counting the votes?” they yell. Goodman says: “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.”
Goodman confronted the crowd with his hand raised toward them to stop. He then retreated up a staircase and they follow. Up the stairs, he directs them away from the Senate door and the chamber. Vice President Mike Pence was about 100 feet away with his family. Rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” and “Bring out Pence!” as they roamed the halls searching for the former vice president and other lawmakers. Outside, the mob set up a makeshift gallows on the field near the Capitol.
Goodman was later honored by Congress for his heroics.
Later, video showed senators being evacuated from the chamber. According to the House Impeachment Managers, rioters were 58 steps away from the lawmakers.
Another video showed then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his security detail having a close call with rioters. The video shows part of his security detail turning back down the hall to block the doors.
As the mob breached the Capitol, one officer told dispatch, “We’re still taking rocks, bottles and pieces of flag and metal pole.”
In another recording, an officer says, “We have been flanked, and we’ve lost the line.”
Democrats say Capitol Police evacuated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the Capitol complex entirely because they feared for her safety on Jan. 6.
Prosecutors at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial on Wednesday played audio of Pelosi’s barricaded staffers whispering for help and showed images of the mob trying to break down a door into Pelosi’s office.
House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett says Pelosi was rushed to a secure offsite location because some of the rioters publicly declared their intent to harm or kill Pelosi.
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This story will be updated as House impeachment managers continue to present their case in the impeachment trial. Trump’s defense will present their opening argument next; NewsNation will cover both sides’ in-depth.