Page:Trial Memorandum of the United States House of Representatives in the Second Impeachment Trial of President Donald John Trump.pdf/25

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returned to the White House to watch the day’s events on television—and to lobby allies to stall the Joint Session—thousands of people, many of them armed, marched on the Capitol as he instructed.

E. Insurrectionists Incited by President Trump Attack the Capitol

Provoked and incited by President Trump, who told them to “fight like hell,” hundreds of insurrectionists arrived at the Capitol and launched an assault on the building—a seditious, deadly attack against the Legislative Branch and the Vice President without parallel in American history.

In short order, President Trump’s mob crashed through security barriers that had been set up around the Capitol perimeter, tore down scaffolding, and bludgeoned law enforcement personnel guarding the building.[1] Rioters wearing Trump paraphernalia shoved and punched Capitol Police officers, gouged their eyes, assaulted them with pepper spray and projectiles, and denounced them as “cowards” and “traitors.”[2] Rioters attacked law enforcement personnel with weapons they had brought with them or stolen from the police: sledgehammers, baseball bats, hockey sticks, crutches, flagpoles, police shields, and fire extinguishers.[3] They tore off officers’ helmets, beat them with batons, and deployed chemical irritants including bear spray, a chemical irritant similar to tear gas, designed to be used by hunters to fend off bear attacks.[4] Some attackers wore gas masks and bulletproof vests; many carried firearms—indeed, at least six handguns were recovered after the


  1. ↑ Lauren Leatherby et al., How a Presidential Rally Turned Into a Capitol Rampage, N.Y. Times (Jan. 12, 2021).
  2. ↑ Marc Fisher et al., The Four-Hour Insurrection, Wash. Post (Jan. 7, 2021).
  3. ↑ Evan Hill et al., They Got a Officer!’: How a Mob Dragged and Beat Police at the Capitol, N.Y. Times (Jan. 11, 2021); Peter Hermann, ‘We Got to Hold This Door’, Wash. Post (Jan. 14, 2021).
  4. ↑ Id.; Peter Hermann, ‘We Got to Hold This Door’, Wash. Post (Jan. 14, 2021); Lauren Leatherby et al., How a Presidential Rally Turned Into a Capitol Rampage, N.Y. Times (Jan. 12, 2021); Rich Schapiro, Stun Guns, ‘Stinger Whips’ and a Crossbow: What Police Found on the Capitol Protesters, NBC News (Jan. 13, 2021).
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