Congressman Jim Himes, Wilton’s representative in DC, was in the House Chamber Wednesday morning, live-tweeting about the Congressional count of Electoral Votes, when hundreds of demonstrators supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Building.
Himes continued tweeting, grippingly describing events as they unfolded, starting with his first post after the mob breached the doors of the Capitol.
They’re locking the doors in the House chamber. Debate has stopped.
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
He continued tweeting as the incident escalated.
They just recessed the House. A lieutenant of the Capitol Police is now addressing us. Capitol building breached. Both chambers locked down.
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
His tweets captured the rising panic of the situation, sharing security alert texts from Capitol Police instructing people to “seek cover, and remain silent.”
Instructions to people in the Capitol: remain silent. pic.twitter.com/L0lW8IlJIe
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
As millions watched images of Trump flag-waving rioters tearing down barricades, breaking windows and clashing with Capitol Police as they made their way into “the People’s House,” Himes tweeted from the other side of the barricaded doors separating the legislators from those very insurgents.
“Police have just told us to be prepared to get under our chairs in the chamber. They’ve placed guards in the galleries. Lieutenant advising us to be prepared to get behind our seats. There is no behind our seats.”
Police have just told us to be prepared to get under our chairs in the chamber. They’ve placed guards in the galleries.
Lieutenant advising us to be prepared to get behind our seats. There is no behind our seats.
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
Just four minutes later, Himes relayed an instruction he’d been given by security officers that surely had never been heard in Congress before: to put on a gas mask.
Police have asked us to get gas masks out as there has been tear gas used in the rotunda.
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
For the next 90 minutes, Himes’ Twitter feed went silent. His aide made a statement on the Congressman’s Facebook page: “This is Patrick, Congressman Himes’s Communications Director. The Congressman has been evacuated from the House Floor and is in a secure, undisclosed location. All staff is also safe. The situation is very frightening and fluid, but we will try to keep you up to date as we learn more. Thank you all for your concern.
Once the Capitol had been secured, Himes responded to a tweet from the CT Republican Party condemning the violence in Washington, calling it, “too little, too late.”
As I take off my gas mask and brush the glass shards from my knees, I’ll take too little too late for $1000, Alex. https://t.co/xTMeHRM5fA
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 6, 2021
Like his colleagues, Himes was defiant about not allowing the rampaging Trump supporters to claim any success and to make clear who he holds ultimately responsible:
Going back to the House chamber shortly to finish what we started.
Today’s insurrectionists will be prosecuted and jailed.@realDonaldTrump bears responsibility and will answer to history and the law.
I hope my @GOP colleagues wake up at great long last.
Let’s get this done.
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 7, 2021
Later in the evening, when the House of Representatives finally reconvened in its Chamber, Himes tweeted photos from the floor, including an image of the door that earlier had separated agitators from the legislators and staffers inside, its glass pane marred by jagged holes and damage caused by the insurgents.
It’s the very door captured in the images widely shared on websites, social media, airwaves and newspapers, showing Capitol security officers with guns drawn and pointed at the intruders whose faces peered through the broken glass from the other side. It’s a symbolic scar that Himes plans on trying to keep as it now is, to be a vivid reminder of just how fragile the Republic is.
They’ve cleaned up the chamber after the failed Trump insurrection. But not completely.
I’m going to ask that this window not be repaired to remind posterity of the consequences of misrule and demagoguery. pic.twitter.com/SpW94E44JZ
— Jim Himes (@jahimes) January 7, 2021
Himes Statement on Seditious Riots
Later Wednesday evening, Himes released a statement on the riot, reiterating his assertion that it was incited by President Trump:
“Today’s seditious riot, attempting to overturn the rightful election of Joe Biden, is the inevitable and tragic result of months and years of lies and incitement by Donald Trump and his craven enablers. There is blood on their hands. This is domestic terrorism, and the traitors who brought this violence to the hallowed halls of democracy are the shame of the nation and must be brought to justice.
“We will never be dissuaded from carrying out our sacred oaths to the Constitution and ensuring the transition of power on behalf of the American people. On Jan. 20, Joe Biden will be President. Kamala Harris will be Vice President. And no lies, threats, or mobs can change that truth.”
Thank you Congressman Himes and I support your suggestion about keeping the broken window in place as a reminder of January 6th, 2021 and just how vulnerable our democracy has become over the last four years!