WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The large crowd of Trump supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday broke through windows and eventually into the building. Lawmakers were instructed to put on gas masks and hide under chairs as the rioters entered the halls of Congress.
On Thursday, police announced they made more than 80 arrests and released photos of the agitators that broke into the Capitol.
The photos show rioters holding sticks, climbing walls, one man holding a broken piece of the sign to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office and dozens more acts of destruction.
“We also have shared these images with the regional airport authority, as we speak we have members of the metropolitan police department that are scouring the area hotels and businesses trying to identify some of these individuals that still may be taking up residence in our city,” said Washington D.C. police chief Robert Contee.
One rioter took a picture in Nancy Pelosi’s office with his feet up on her desk.
NewsNation affiliate KNWA identified him as Richard Barnett. The station interviewed him earlier in the year at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Bentonville, AR.
“If you don’t like it, send somebody after me. But I am not going down easily. Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes,” said Barnett in the interview.
Another rioter, a shirtless man wearing a fur hat with horns seen inside the Capitol, is 32-year-old Jake Angeli, according to the Arizona Republic. NewsNation spotted him in front of the White House with a megaphone a few hours before the siege on the Capitol. The Arizona Republic reports he is a familiar face at pro-Trump rallies and a QAnon conspiracy theorist.
Before the protesters stormed the Capitol, NewsNation spoke to protesters that say they are convinced that the election was a fraud.
“I am here because I feel like we have been wronged,” said one protester.
“We hope that Trump wins. And if not I hope he does what he can to become our president because he is our president. We know he won the election,” said an unidentified protester in the crowd.
They are trying to take it from Trump. And he is obviously the winner,” said another protester.
Jorhena Thomas an expert on disinformation at American University says Americans are particularly vulnerable because of social media.
“False information spreads. And some people tend to believe what they want to believe. And they tend to believe information that confirms their own biases,” said Thomas.
