At 5:08 p.m., Army officials alert D.C. National Guard Chief William Walker that he has permission to deploy guardsmen to the Capitol. The Army had authorization 36 minutes ago and waited until now to tell Walker.
At 5:20 p.m., 155 troops dressed in riot gear start arriving at the Capitol. Twenty minutes later, they begin clearing the Capitol of Trump supporters / domestic terrorists who didn’t leave on Donald Trump’s command. The terrorists are allowed to leave without being arrested or having been identified.
Lawmakers announce that they will continue with the electoral certification.
Around 5:45 p.m., Defense Secretary Christopher Miller authorizes Maryland and Virginia to deploy their own guardsmen to D.C.
At 6:00 p.m., Trump tweets,”These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Over the past four hours inside the Capitol, terrorists destroyed and stole government property, accessed lawmakers’ mail and emails, spread feces on the walls, and had standoffs with the police. At least 50 people were left wounded. At least fourteen officers were injured. Five people are dead.
Outside the Capitol, two nooses are found. One was built in the form of a gallows tree near the Capitol building. Another was constructed using a camera crew’s wiring after the terrorists assaulted nearby journalists and photographers.
Around 7 p.m., Rudy Giuliani leaves a voicemail asking Sen. Tommy Tuberville to delay the electoral vote certification for at least 24 hours. We don’t know what Giuliani expects to happen tomorrow, but the certification continues later tonight.
By 7:30 p.m., Capitol Police declare the building to be secure, and Donald Trump’s posts are removed by Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. An hour later, the Federal Protective Service warns D.C. officials that an armed militia group is on the way from West Virginia.
Later in the evening, pipe bombs or similar explosives are found outside the headquarters of both the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee, and at least 10 molotov cocktails are confiscated from a parked vehicle. More explosives are found in other vehicles and around the Capitol.
The next day, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger are forced to resign.
In the following days, two Capitol officers commit suicide, and some Trump supporters begin planning for a second attack on the Capitol.
External Sources
Sources cited on Wikipedia’s timeline
Sources cited in Trump File’s original post
Photo: Tyler Merbler