“Today something bad is going to happen. I don’t know what, but something bad is going to happen. ”
Jamie Stiehm confessed to his sister that bad feeling before a mass of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.
The intuition of this American political columnist did not fail her. This is what he saw from the press box of the US House of Representatives:
Outside the Capitol Hill, I found a group of boisterous supporters of President Donald Trump, all waving flags and swearing allegiance to him. There was a feeling that a problem was brewing.
I entered the House of Representatives and went up to the press box, where we were assigned our seats, observing from there the gloomy session.
Amendment 25 or ‘impeachment ‘: Can Trump be removed from office after violent assault on Capitol Hill? The president of the Chamber, Nancy Pelosi, held the gavel and maintained the five minutes of intervention of each representative.
At the beginning of the second hour, we suddenly heard broken glass. The air began to thicken. An announcement from the Capitol Police said: “An individual has entered the building.”
American journalist Jamie Stiehm called her family fearing that something might happen to her. So everyone looked around and everything continued as normal. But after that, the notices kept coming. And they became more and more urgent.
They announced that the intruders had entered the rotunda, which is under the famous marble dome. The sacred house of democracy was being stormed.
Why was it so easy for Trump supporters to break into the Washington Capitol? Many of us are Seasoned journalists – I’ve seen my share of violence covering homicides in Baltimore – but this was unpredictable.
The police didn’t seem to know what was going on. They were not coordinated. They closed the doors of the chamber, but at the same time they told us that we would have to evacuate. So there was a feeling of panic.
I was scared. I assure. And I’ve talked to other journalists who said they were a bit ashamed of themselves for being scared.
There was a feeling of “no one is in charge here, the Capitol police have lost control of the building , anything can happen. ”
Stiehm felt very early that the police had lost control of the situation. Memories of – S If you remember the attacks of the 11 September 2001, there was a plane that fell and did not reach its objective, which was none other than the Capitol.
I remembered that. I called my family , just to let them know I was here and that it was a dangerous situation.
4 killed in the assault on the Washington Capitol by Trump supporters There was a shot. We could see that there was a confrontation in our room. Five men were at the door holding weapons.
It was a terrifying sight. The men were looking through a broken glass window and it looked like they could shoot at any moment.
Fortunately there were no shots inside the chamber. But for a moment, it seemed like it was a real possibility. Because things were rushing so fast.
We had to crawl under the railings to get out. She wasn’t dressed for that. Many women dressed elegantly, with heels, because they had come to a formal event.
I took refuge in the Chamber cafeteria along with other people. I’m still shaking.
When Pelosi decided to continue the session, those present felt that returning was sending a powerful message to the assailants. A powerful political message I have seen many things as a journalist, but this was something different. It was the hemicycle of public representation being undermined, assaulted, degraded.
And I think that’s why the Speaker of the House wanted to go back and hold the gavel again and continue.
Later I had to decide if I was also going to return to the Chamber. I decided that I probably would, because the message that is being sent is: “You can incite a mob, but we will continue.”
I think this is a very important political message.
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