"Nancy, Nancy" as they searched for Speaker Pelosi.[245] At 2:18 p.m., the House went into recess as hundreds of rioters confronted USCP officers inside the Crypt, which is a short distance from the first breach point.[246]
USCP officers formed a line across the Crypt in an attempt to stop the mob's advance.[247] By 2:21 p.m., the rioters had tried to break through police lines, but they were temporarily unsuccessful.[248]
As USCP officers held the line inside the Crypt, President Trump poured fuel on the fire, tweeting at 2:24 p.m.:
"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!" [249]
One minute later, the mob violently pushed through the USCP officers in the Crypt and continued moving south towards the House Chamber.[250] Joshua Pruitt, the Proud Boy dressed in a Punisher shirt, was at the front of the line as rioters broke through in the Crypt.[251] Officer David Millard told the Select Committee that rioters in the Crypt claimed they were in the Capitol because their "boss" told them to be there—meaning President Trump.[252] Officer Millard also recalled members of the mob telling him they were there to stop the steal.[253]
After breaking through the police line in the Crypt, the mob pursued USCP officers as they retreated to the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center (CVC). Pruitt was among the rioters who advanced into the CVC, where he came close to Senator Chuck Schumer.[254] When the USCP officers attempted to lower metal barriers to halt the crowd's momentum, another small group of Proud Boys immediately interceded to prevent the barricades from coming down.[255] The Proud Boy contingent included three men from the Kansas City, Kansas area: William Chrestman,[256] Chris Kuehne,[257] and Louis Colon.[258] Felicia Konold and Cory Konold, two Proud Boy associates from Arizona, joined the Kansas City group while marching from the Washington Monument to the Capitol earlier in the day and were on the scene.[259] Two other Proud Boys, Nicholas Ochs and Nicholas DeCarlo, filmed the incident.[260]
Surveillance footage shows Chrestman using a wooden club, or modified axe handle, to prevent the barrier from being lowered to the floor.[261] Colon later admitted to authorities that he purchased and modified an axe handle "to be used as both a walking stick and an improvised weapon" on January 6th.[262] Colon also told authorities that he attended a meeting with Chrestman and others on the night of January 5th, during which someone
