AP Photo
People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Published Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 | 5:45 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 | 11:30 p.m.
Nevada Democratic Rep. Susie Lee arrived at the Capitol via car Wednesday morning, rather than her typical routine of walking or biking.
She expected a protest, but not to the extent of what happened.
As chaos broke out in Washington, Lee was evacuated from her office initially due to reports of a suspicious package nearby, and then again to an undisclosed location as rioters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol.
“It’s been a day of, obviously, watching in horror what was happening to our country and the attack on our democracy and obviously, concern for my personal safety and that of my staff and, quite honestly, everyone here at the Capitol,” Lee said.
Lee and the other members of Nevada’s delegation, along with their staffs, were unharmed during the insurrection. They took to social media to express their disgust.
Rep. Mark Amodei, whose district covers Northern Nevada and is the lone Republican in the delegation, called the day’s events “shameful” and said that “history (was) made today for all the wrong reasons.” He did not mention his fellow Republican, President Donald Trump, who at an early morning rally urged his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, whose district includes much of Las Vegas proper and the Strip, posted that she was sheltering in place after the mob’s storming.
“Lawless domestic terrorists encouraged by the president of the United States are attempting to destroy our democracy,” she posted on Twitter. “They will not succeed.”
The union is “fragile,” she said, adding she will do what she can to make sure it “endures.”
“This insurrection is a reminder that the greatest threat to our republic does not come from foreign adversaries, but from within,” Titus said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this violent attack on our democracy must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Though Trump later posted a video on social media telling his supporters to go home, he did not denounce the violence and rioting.
In a later post, the president called the riot a consequence of his election loss and the subsequent refusal of elected officials to overturn the results, which he continues to call election fraud.
Twitter and Facebook later deleted both posts, calling them an incitement to violence. Twitter also took the unprecedented step Wednesday evening of suspending Trump’s feed for 12 hours for “repeated and severe” violations of its policies. Twitter later took the step of locking Trump out of the website for 12 hours.
Lee said that the president and his allies have been peddling false rhetoric and conspiracy theories about the election, and that she thinks there “there will be definitely be a period (where) there will be reflection upon how dangerous this rhetoric has been.”
“Certainly (Trump) was flaming the fire, that’s for sure,” Lee said. “The result is the fruit of their labor.”
Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen both condemned the rioters’ actions.
“The events at the U.S. Capitol are un-American and unacceptable,” Cortez Masto posted, adding that she appreciated the Capitol Police for keeping lawmakers safe.
Rosen echoed Cortez Masto’s comments.
“The violent attacks we are seeing on our democracy today are reprehensible,” Rosen posted on Twitter. “It’s time for us as a nation to come together and denounce hate and violence. Together, we will overcome and rebuild our nation.”
When senators reconvened on the floor after the Capitol had been cleared, Cortez Masto stressed the danger of baselessly objecting to the Electoral College votes, drawing attention to the “dire and dangerous consequences of sowing doubt and uncertainty.”
“I know that this room is full of leaders of both parties who love this country and many believe that for America to succeed, our politics must find common ground, and that has never been clearer than today when armed rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol emboldened by President Trump’s false and inflammatory rhetoric about the 2020 elections,” Cortez Masto said.
Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, whose district covers much of North Las Vegas and a large portion of the state’s rural area, released a statement after he and his staff were evacuated. He called the chaos a “direct result of the call to arms by President Trump and his allies who organized and incited today’s events.”
“This is deeply concerning, unacceptable and there must be full accountability for all those involved,” Horsford added in a statement. “While there are some forces who want to destroy our democracy and deny the results of the election, make no mistake: I remain resolved to perform my duty, certify the election results and defend free and fair elections.”
As the night went on, Horsford added his voice to Democrats calling for new articles of impeachment to be drafted against Trump, stating that lawmakers cannot “allow another day to pass without accountability for the harm this president has caused.”
“After years of corruption, abdicating his constitutional responsibility as president and refusing to concede an election he lost by more than 8 million votes, today’s attempted coup was a direct attack on the will of the people,” Horsford said in a statement. “As a result, a woman is dead because this president incited violence against our government and its duly-elected leaders.”
Horsford, in an interview Wednesday night, said he did not come to support impeachment lightly. He also said lawmakers supporting Trump’s false statements of election fraud were “culpable now.”
“It is absolutely clear to me that Donald Trump is not fit to serve another day as president of the United States,” Horsford said. “What occurred today is the first attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812. The breach of the U.S. Capitol is not just a breach of our building, it’s a breach of our democracy.”
Trump has about two weeks left in his term before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in, and Horsford said he was concerned about what he could do in that time.
“While (the rioters) were not successful and they will not be successful, he did cause irreparable harm today. He caused harm through the death of an individual (and) the delay and the disruption of our legislative branch of government. I am very concerned about what he may do over the next remaining 13 days and the fact that he still has enormous powers and authority.”
Lee called Wednesday's events “violent extremism aimed at the very heart of our democracy.”
“This is more than protesting. This is more than rioting. This is violent extremism aimed at the very heart of our democracy. It needs to stop,” she posted on Twitter. “(Trump), you have a responsibility to stop this. You need to unequivocally call for an end to this violence. Now.”
