Witnesses revealed Trump’s attitude to the deadly insurrection and new footage of the riots
The investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol held its first prime-time hearing yesterday evening, interviewing more than 1,000 people and airing new video evidence detailing the violent insurrection. They laid out the chilling details of how former President Donald Trump’s team sought to overturn the 2020 election results. The committee showed footage of the January 6 attack and revealed testimony from White House officials, capitol police, and members of the Trump family.
During the hearing, the committee showed unseen video footage of the pro-Trump mob pouring into the Capitol while using Trump’s tweets as a call to arms, chanting “Hang Milk Pence” and holding up pictures of the gallows. An investigation concluded that more than 140 police officers were injured and several people killed.
Moreover, a White House official testified that Trump did not want the attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop, angrily resisting advisers who told him to call off the mob. When Trump knew about “Hang Milk Pence,” he seemed to approve of the mob’s actions and thought his vice president should be hanged. Meanwhile, Trump’s daughters, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner have talked about how they do not believe the former president’s claims that Biden stole the election.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was the first witness to testify, describing her pride in “Protect America’s Symbol of Democracy” and the hostile public scrutiny she was subjected to after being knocked unconscious and suffering brain trauma.
“I was called Nancy Pelosi’s dog, incompetent, a hero, and a villain. I was called a traitor to my country, my home, and my Constitution. In actuality, I was none of those things.”
“I was an American standing face to face with other Americans asking myself how many times — many, many times — how we had gotten here. I had been called names before, but never had my patriotism or duty been called into question,” Edwards said.
The commission also featured two of The country’s most radical far-right extremist groups, The Proud Boys and The Oath Keepers, and played testimonies from their leaders as evidence of a plot to carry out an armed terrorist attack. Seventeen members of these groups have now been charged with sedition.
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