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(2) Shortly after arriving at the Capitol, we saw a large group of young, angry, men who looked out-of-place tearing down temporary fences and yelling and trying to rile up the crowd of peaceful Trump supporters. They aggressively pushed their way right up to the rear steps.pic.twitter.com/2F0KcyEZ3Z
(3) These agitators were demanding people surround the Capitol and go with them to the front. Most people ignored them, but they continued trying to rile up the crowd. Some stood yelling on top of construction equipment. Some had megaphones, yelling things like “Eviction Day!”pic.twitter.com/MhRLYYU1ga
(4) Again, these people looked and felt out of place. I was with three others, and we all commented many times how odd these people were acting. Trump supporters were frustrated. But they were not becoming violent. They were singing the National Anthem, and chanting “USA, USA.”pic.twitter.com/Cig52qMmfa
(5) At some point, we heard some small explosions, which we figured out were flash-bangs, or tear gas. We saw several of these agitators moving through the crowd shouting angrily and clearly trying to rile people up—and demanding others join them to “take our government back.”
(6) We noticed the police surround a few of these agitators that were approaching the walls of the Capitol. We figured they were about to get arrested. But the police only spoke with them, then moved away and let them go about their business...agitating.
(7) At one point, we saw the police pull back from the back side of the Capitol building...giving access to those who were trying to climb the back stairs and climb the inauguration scaffolding. Then people started climbing the stairs, and some began scaling walls.
(8) Not long after the police pulled back, a large group of police in riot gear and face shields marched in from the street. No one attacked them. Many were thanking them and telling them to remember their oath to defend the Constitution, and saying “Back the Blue.”pic.twitter.com/vyUXDoGOkK
(9) These police in riot gear marched to the back of the Capitol, but then marched back out about 5 minutes later. We were not sure why. Again, they were not being attacked or abused in any way. There were a couple of these agitators who yelled “fuck the police” at them.
(10) At this point, we decided to walk around to the front of the Capitol building. When we got near the front, we saw more of these out-of-place agitators moving around and yelling at people “they shot a girl!” People were genuinely shocked.
(11) It was very clear that these agitators were doing everything they could to stir up the crowd. They were screaming “we need to get in there and take our government back!” They moved around a lot and kept screaming “they’re shooting people in there!”
(12) Then we notice something very odd. There were Capitol police in full body armor standing and having very relaxed conversations with some of these out-of-place agitators. We even stopped to listen and it was odd how unconcerned both sides seemed. Almost joking around.pic.twitter.com/Q7gVqUdzo8
(13) Considering someone has apparently just been shot, and the House and Senate chambers were in lockdown, it was EXTREMELY odd how unconcerned these Capitol police acted. Remember - a shooting had supposedly just happened. Do they look on “high alert” to you?pic.twitter.com/OvTsNssaxH
(14) We continued to the front of the Capitol and saw several more of these out-of-place agitators yelling and calling for people to “take back our house” and frantically running around yelling “they are shooting people!” Something felt “off.” You can hear some of them here.pic.twitter.com/nTDHJhV9uH
(15) One of these agitators came and said “they shot a girl in the neck! I have pictures.” We told him to show us. He held out his phone and showed the following photo, which one of us snapped a picture of his phone.pic.twitter.com/dtTEO5YDr0
(16) This photo seemed odd to us. It seemed staged. Especially after we later saw this photo that someone took from the inside of the locked down chamber.pic.twitter.com/FH9Vnyx0jP
(17) We continued around the front, and encountered a Capitol policeman. He was surrounded by some of these out-of-place agitators who were screaming at him. They were saying “fuck the police,” and “you’re shooting little girls.”pic.twitter.com/W2aP6hhMO4
(18) We were actually surprised at this scene. This Capitol policeman was completely unconcerned even though some of these agitators were being aggressive with him, and getting in his face. He never said “you need to back away,” or “stay back” or anything of the sort.
(19) After watching him getting screamed at, and seeing he was alone, we even stepped in and told the agitators they needed to calm down and de-escalate the situation. We were concerned for him because he was alone and some of these people were getting verbally aggressive.
(20) Now another really odd thing. We looked up and saw several other Capitol Police officers looking down at the situation—completely unconcerned. They even seemed to be joking around. They certainly weren’t concerned about this lone officer’s safety.pic.twitter.com/wDmbeSWuzN
(21) Things felt completely wrong the entire time we were at the Capitol. We saw frustrated Trump supporters, but they were in control of themselves. We saw out-of-place agitators who were doing all they could to rile people up. They were working the crowd.
(22) We saw Capitol Policemen who seemed completely unconcerned. We saw them joking around. Those we saw were absolutely not in a heightened state of alert—even though the building had supposedly been breached and shots fired.
(23) Virtually everyone outside the Capitol Building had no idea people had even breached the building. That was not why Trump Supporters were there. We saw patriots just trying to make sure our elected leaders were aware that we were there, and that our voices matter.
(24) I’ll just end with this. People were emotional. People were frustrated. But Trump’s supporters were not getting violent. The violence felt staged. It felt forced. There were agitators creating chaos, and it felt to us like it was a coordinated effort.
(25) The narrative being pushed is not right. We all felt like something was being orchestrated to create a false impression. We all felt like something was “off” and that it was intended to hurt Trump and to cast a shadow on his MAGA supporters. Don’t believe the narrative!
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