More details are emerging after the Capitol riot that President Donald Trump recently dubbed "the calamity at the Capitol." The public is beginning to get a fuller idea of how much planning and knowledge went into this domestic terrorist assault on the federal government.
There are newly public allegations security measures may have been sabotaged in the office of Massachusetts Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley.
This news comes in the wake of the many other revelations and allegations from last week when a mob were filmed or photographed erecting a gallows, carrying restraints, and reportedly multiple explosive devices and napalm were found on and around the United States Capitol grounds where five people lost their lives—including a Capitol police officer.
Rioters put out the call on social media for more people to come and many of those posts and videos encouraged or glorified violence. Videos of rioters chasing, attacking and beating Capitol officers were seen.
Rioters took down the U.S. flag and held aloft Trump, White Supremacist, QAnon, White nationalist and Confederate flags and symbols. There were multiple White supremacist slogans and anti-Semitic symbols and images throughout the mob, including the now-infamous "Camp Auschwitz" shirt and "6MWE" or "six million wasn’t enough"—both references to the Holocaust.
Footage of officers opening barricades to allow rioters in, taking selfies with them and standing aside rather than intervening drew ire and raised questions. Now over a dozen officers are being investigated.
Resigned Chief of Capitol police, Steven Sund, went public with claims the National Guard was requested and Trump's Defense Department team denied the request six times before sending troops.
There were claims of members of Congress guiding groups of people associated with the Capitol riot around the building for reconnaissance the day before the attacks reported to authorities.
And now...
Pressley was no stranger to death threats throughout her first term after being specifically targeted by Trump as a member of "The Squad" that also includes Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. As a result, Pressley ran regular security drills with her team.
When the mob gained access to the building January 6, staff sprang into action following the plan they had established. The team met up in Pressley's office and Chief of Staff, Sarah Groh, went to retrieve gas masks.
As Groh was doing so, others worked on barricading the door with furniture.
The next step in the procedure was to hit one of the multiple panic buttons throughout the office. Offices had several so in the event of an emergency time wouldn't be wasted activating one.
Multiple panic buttons also work as backups in case one fails or is damaged.
The team, who had run countless drills and physically touched the buttons before, suddenly could not find any.
The possible implications are horrifying Twitter.
Pressley and staff were eventually forced to abandon the offices and guided to saferooms by Capitol officers who, according to the team, they were uncertain could be trusted based on broadcast footage of officers appearing to side with the mob.
Those officers led her and her team to a saferoom with anti-mask, pro-Trump, Republican members of Congress who taunted and balked at those requesting masks. Staffers tried to hand out masks at multiple points throughout the events of Jan 6, but many of those aforementioned GOP members of Congress refused to wear them.
Pressley has an auto-immune disorder and is at increased risk when it comes to the pandemic. This is something her colleagues, and much of the world know as Pressley has chosen not to hide her condition.
Representative Pressley was forced to leave the safety of that room and find another place to shelter in place for health reasons.
Pressley's decision was initially mocked on social media, but it proved wise.
In the days since the attack, word went out the safe rooms were hotspots for virus transmission. Multiple people have tested positive since the Capitol riot.
...including Pressley's husband, Conan Harris, who was there in her office with staff the day of the attack.
Authorities are investigating the riot, its instigators and planners and various allegations made by members of Congress.
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