The details of last week’s Capitol riot are still unfolding. A new article reveals that supporters of Trump were “about one minute” from crossing paths with Vice President Mike Pence.
According to a Washington Post report, Pence was escorted to a safe place about 60 seconds before the mob entered the landing in the Senate.
The Post claimed that “about one minute” after Pence was hustled from the chamber, the rioters stormed up the stairs to a second-floor landing inside the Senate.
Second Lady Karen Pence and their daughter had also “just ducked into a hideaway less than 100 feet from the landing.”
Luckily Pence was moved to safety, considering the fact that some rioters were chanting, “hang Mike Pence,” but it’s unknown how long it took Secret Service to move him.
“While the Secret Service does not speak specifically about the means and methods of our protective operations, Vice President Pence was secure at all times on Jan. 6,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement.
Federal prosecutors claimed in a filing this week that there is “strong evidence” that “supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States government.”
Federal authorities expect “hundreds” of arrests following the riot, which could include significant “felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy.”
Trump became the first person in U.S. history to be impeached twice. This time around, he’s accused of inciting a riot after aggressively pressuring Pence to overturn the presidential election results.
Trump spent the past two months making widespread and baseless election fraud claims, which helped infuriate the public, specifically his allies that stormed the Capitol.
“Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country,” Trump said at a rally on Jan. 6. Those attendees then marched to the Capitol because he framed his election loss as an “egregious assault on our democracy.”
Trump then told them to “fight like hell” and “patriotically and peacefully” go to the Capitol.
“We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said at one point.
Once rioters were cleared out hours later, Congress and Pence reconvened to handle the task of the day, certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral win.
“You did not win,” Pence said then, addressing the rioters directly once the joint session continued. “Violence never wins. Freedom wins. And this is still the people’s house.”
