Footage from the Jan. 6 hearing showed leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers and Proud Boys preparing to storm the U.S. Capitol. Testifying in person was one of the officers, Caroline Edwards, who suffered serious injuries as she battled the mob.
The committee showed new, graphic video from the insurrection, moving through a timeline of the violence. It started with rioters angrily walking toward the Capitol, then showed them breaking through thin police barriers and brutally beating police.
And it showed the rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” referring to the vice president who had defied Trump’s orders to try to thwart Biden’s certification, and chanting “Nancy! Nancy!” as they walked up a staircase inside the Capitol, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.about the bloody scene outside the Capitol that day and the traumatic brain injury she suffered when members of the Proud Boys and others pushed her to the ground as they led the mob into the Capitol.
Thompson said Trump’s call for people to come on Jan. 6 “energized” members of the Proud Boys and other extremist groups. They highlighted Trump’s comment at a presidential debate that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by.” Lawmakers who were trapped together in the House during the insurrection are attending Thursday’s hearing after having dinner together. The members, all Democrats, were caught in an upper gallery of the chamber as rioters beat on the doors.