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Stefanik evacuated, condemns violence as Trump supporters storm Capitol

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in Washington. (AP photo — Andrew Harnik)

Members of Congress, including North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik, were evacuated from the House chamber during Wednesday’s Electoral College ballot count as a mob of violent supporters of Donald Trump broke in and swarmed the Capitol building, protesting the election in which Joe Biden defeated Trump.

Stefanik and her staff were safe, she said in an email at 3:10 p.m. She also condemned the mob’s actions.

“Americans have a Constitutional right to protest & freedom of speech,” she wrote, “but violence in any form is absolutely unacceptable & anti-American. … We pray that all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, their staff, & all Americans remain safe.

“Thank you to the United States Capitol Police and the United States Capitol team,” Stefanik continued. “May God bless you.”

Stefanik planned to object to electors from the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, citing alleged electoral irregularities in those states, including changes to laws and voter fraud. Due to the violence, however, Congress was still in recess as of 6:30 p.m., with plans to return to session once the building is deemed safe. If they reconvene, legislators are likely to stay in session through the night.

Rep. Elise Stefanik delivers a speech for the Republican National Convention on the night of Aug. 26, 2020, remotely from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. (Screenshot from video)

“I fully condemn the dangerous violence and destruction of the Capitol grounds,” Stefanik later wrote in a tweet.

In a later statement Stefanik said, “This is truly a tragic day for America.”

Stefanik did not respond to a question asking if she believes this event is Trump’s fault.

Breaking in

With hundreds outside, rioters supporting Trump forced their way into the Capitol building, shoving police down, trampling barricades and breaking windows to gain entry to the building.

Shortly before, many of them had been at a rally at which Trump had urged them to march on the Capitol and said, “We will never give up.”

They broke into the Senate floor. Security forces in the House chamber had their guns drawn at protestors who broke glass on a barricaded door.

Lawmakers were reportedly told to don gas masks as reports of tear gas spread.

Some of the rioters wore helmets, carried sticks and wore backpacks. They sprayed fire extinguishers, blanketing stairwells in thick smoke and shouted, “We want Trump!”

They climbed scaffolding and banged on windows. They waved Trump flags, U.S. flags and Confederate flags.

Some looted the Capitol building, stealing items as big as podiums, searching through desks and taking photos of members’ computers. One was photographed sitting in Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office chair with his feet on her desk.

Outside, Trump supporters chanted, “The media is the enemy of the people” — a common Trump saying — as they stomped on television crews’ equipment.

A woman in the Capitol building was shot in the neck in the fray. She was carried out, bleeding on a stretcher. She later died in the hospital.

A noose and scaffold were erected near the Capitol building on the other side of the reflecting pool.

Capitol Police were not effective in stopping the breach of the congressional chambers, and they were severely outnumbered.

Advisor’s suspicions

Stefanik Senior Advisor Alex DeGrasse retweeted several tweets saying it was actually Antifa protestors, disguised as Trump supporters, who had breached the building. Later he backed off and un-retweeted some of them.

One deleted retweet misidentified a tattoo on a protestor’s hand as being a hammer and sickle tattoo. It was actually symbol from the video game Dishonored of an “Outsider’s Mark.”

Another tweet pictured the man with the tattoo, paired with an image of him standing next to neo-Nazi and organizer of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally Matthew Heimbach, incorrectly identifying both as being “antifa.” DeGrasse’s commentary with the photo was “Wow. antifa.”

Stefanik’s office did not respond to requests to comment on DeGrasse’s retweets. She also did not respond to a request to comment on if she believes it was Trump supporters or Antifa who broke into the Capitol building.

DeGrasse changed his messaging later in the day, calling the event “sad” and saying a photo of a man carrying a Confederate flag in the building was “disgusting.”

Local reactions

Reaction to the news on the Enterprise Facebook was mixed.

“Elise is part of the problem,” Stuart Nichols wrote.

“Our capital our nation. Run commies,” Michael Kovastacch wrote.

“Insurrection! Trump egged them on earlier with more lies. He should be forced to resign now,” Jennifer Zahn wrote.

“It was Antifa not Trump supporters,” Linda Vaillancourt Yaworski wrote on Facebook.

State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, and Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, were in Albany for the first day of the legislative session Wednesday and caught the news in the afternoon.

“This violence is unacceptable and must end,” Stec wrote the Enterprise in a text. “The peaceful exercise of the right to protest is vital to the health of our democracy as is the maintenance and respect for law and order. There is no room for this behavior in any part of America.”

Jones said the actions of the protestors were “ridiculous … sad, shameful and pathetic.”

“Obviously, these people that are looting the Capitol should be arrested,” Jones said. “What a shameful day for our democracy.

“I think (Trump) is responsible for a lot of inciting this,” Jones said.

“Our children are watching,” Jones continued. “What kind of example are we setting for them?”

Asked about comparisons people have made between this incident and the Black Lives Matter protests earlier this year, Jones said he believes looting and violence is wrong in any context

“If those people think that is wrong, do you think doing another wrong is correct?” he said.

Trump response

Trump released a video telling people to go home, but in it he also said his supporters were there because the election was “fraudulent.”

“We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election,” Trump said in a video message posted to his Twitter account. “But you have to go home now. We have to have peace.”

At 3:13 p.m. Trump tweeted, “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”

He had given a speech three hours earlier at the Ellipse park, a few miles away from Capitol Hill in which he said he will “never concede” the election.

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