Here’s what SC members of Congress experienced during ‘war zone’ Capitol breach
Prior to Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, Democratic House Whip Jim Clyburn sat in the House chamber several feet away from Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, preparing for the upcoming debate on whether to throw out some state’s electoral votes.
During the debate on Arizona’s votes, Clyburn saw Speaker Nancy Pelosi leave her dais. A member of his security detail then signaled for him to come over to her.
“I knew that something was wrong with that because we had asked her to consider not presiding at all but she said she’s going to carry out the duties and responsibilities, and she was going to preside, no matter how long it took,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn was among the lawmakers and congressional staffers who hid around the U.S. Capitol or were taken to secure locations as a mob broke in in an effort to thwart the Electoral College certification.
Eventually, law enforcement cleared the building and Congress returned to their chambers to finish the counting process and to reject objections to the electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
The Electoral College certification came in the early morning hours, and some Capitol Hill staffers didn’t make it to bed until 5 a.m. Thursday.
Clyburn was escorted out of the chamber taken through parts of the Capitol he said he didn’t know existed, and put into a vehicle and driven to a secure location away from the Capitol, where he was sequestered for four to five hours with Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, with the Republican leadership in a separate area of the location.
“There were interactions between both leaders, and I gotta say this — some of my friends will get upset with me — but Mitch McConnell was great and we worked together, not just to make that visit a good visit, but to put in place getting back to the Capitol and getting back to the business at hand to ensure a peaceful transfer (of power).”
Clyburn stayed in touch with his staff who used furniture to barricade themselves in their office, but his family could not contact him to make sure he was OK.
“I had to apologize to my daughters later because they could not reach me, and I did not reach out to them in a timely fashion,” Clyburn said.
Jackets to block light
Inside of freshman Republican lawmaker Nancy Mace’s office, Chief of Staff Mara Mellstrom shoved jackets into the bottom of the door to prevent any light from spilling out into the hallway and deter any intruder from taking an interest in them.
As she watched video streams on her cellphone of the assault unfolding at the Capitol, she said she could only think one thing.
“This is chaos,” Mellstrom said.
As the breach began, Capitol Police ordered congressional staffers to evacuate their offices, and move into the tunnel that connected to the House office building, Mellstrom said.
Later, Mellstrom said they were told to return to their offices with strict lockdown instructions to stay away from any windows, to block out any light and to stay quiet.
“It takes a lot of emotional energy to make sure everyone around you is OK, and these are also people you aren’t familiar with yet,” Mellstrom said. ”I don’t know what trauma my staff brings with them. I barely know them. I only know some of these people from their resumes.”
To pass the time, they told stories. They tasted the different types of hummus they had brought for lunch that day. They consoled the two dogs in the office, Mellstrom’s dog, Gunner, and another staffer’s dog named Daisy.
Mellstrom said she felt like she struggled to keep up with her phone all day, but she continued to respond to her family’s group text message with the same three words: “Everything is OK.”
It was a long day, and evening, for everyone involved.
Mellstrom didn’t make it to her Washington apartment until after 4 a.m. Thursday. That’s when the heaviness of the day began to sink in.
She realized she left her parking pass at the office, and when she went to open her apartment door, her key didn’t work.
When Mellstrom approached the front desk to ask for a replacement key, she said she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She broke down when she finally walked into her apartment.
“I cried,” Mellstrom said, recounting the story some seven hours later. “I was really, really, really angry and really, really upset.”
Congressman retrieved his staff
When the mob breached Statutory Hall in the Capitol, U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, hadn’t even put his suit on for the day’s session.
“We didn’t have to vote until 4 (or) 4:30, so I wasn’t going to sit on the floor,” Timmons told The State Thursday, after flying back to Greenville from Washington.
Immediately when word got around that rioters had streamed into the Capitol by the hundreds, Timmons said he began to retrieve his staff in the Cannon office building.
“I’m glad I did what I did. It was pretty bad,” he said. “One of them was in the Ryburn office building, and all of of the law enforcement had been assaulted outside, bloodied and broken and tear gassed.”
His staff, he said, was clearly shaken up.
At that point, “Capitol police had traded out their traditional weapons for new weapons,” Timmons recalled, meaning something more powerful. “Capitol police told us we had to barricade ourselves, and so we barricaded the doors (with furniture) and stayed there (for several hours).”
But then a pipe bomb was found and everyone had to evacuate Cannon and move into Longworth, he said.
The scene was chaotic and looked like a war zone with heavy armed federal police everywhere, Timmons said.
“I don’t understand how that happened,” Timmons said. “Anyone that breaks a window and climbs through it and gets through the United States Capitol deserves the fullest prosecution to the fullest extent. Everyone that was involved in that needs to be arrested and prosecuted. You can’t lay siege to the Capitol. You just can’t do that.”
Senators secured
As senators began discussing whether to uphold an objection to Arizona’s electoral votes, the debate was suddenly halted. The Senate chamber was evacuated and senators were taken to a secure location in the Capitol.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said tensions and anxiety in the room were high, but to help bring calm the group prayed together.
During the lockdown Scott even met a U.S. Marshall, Deputy Daniel Gonzalez, a Marine who trained at Parris Island, who helped secure the Capitol.
“Thank you, Deputy Gonzalez, and all of your colleagues who work to keep our nation safe,” Scott tweeted with a photo with Gonzalez.
After law enforcement cleared the Capitol grounds, senators returned to work. But while returning to the chamber, senators received an armed escort.
“We can, and will, disagree on issues, but the only way we’ll move our nation forward is with a united purpose to serve the American people,” Scott tweeted on Thursday. “Yesterday was a tough day for our country, but we must use it to strengthen us — not further divide a nation on edge.”
