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A crowd chanting “f--- Antifa” then joined the group and started targeting officers protecting the building. At that point,Edwards told her supervisor:“Sarge,I think we’re going to need a few more people down here”.

The mob then began approaching the barricade and the bike racks. Edwards said officers began holding on to the bike racks,as they waited for backup units,but they were being overpowered.

After providing first aid to people,Edwards joined other officers holding the line.

“All of a sudden I see movement to the left of me,and I turned,and it was[an officer] with his head in his hands and he was ghostly pale,” she said.

“I was concerned,my cop alarm bells went off because if you get sprayed with pepper spray,you’re going to turn red. He turned just about as pale as this sheet of paper.”

As Edwards turned to figure out what happened,she was sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray. She was taken to be decontaminated by another officer,where they were tear-gassed.

She told the hearing the following:

I can just remember my breath catching in my throat because what I saw was just a war scene. It was something like I’d seen out of the movies. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
There were officers on the ground,they were bleeding. I saw friends with blood all over their faces.
I was catching people as they fell. You know? I was it was carnage. It was chaos. I can’t even describe what I saw. I never in my wildest dreams did I think that as a police officer,as a law enforcement officer,I would find myself in the middle of a battle.
I’m trained to detain a couple of subjects and and handle a crowd but I’m not combat trained.
And that day,it was just hours of hand to hand combat,hours of dealing with things that were way beyond what any law enforcement officer has ever trained for and I just remember that moment of stepping behind the line and just seeing the absolute war zone that the west front had become.

11.37am on Jun 10,2022

How the riot unfolded

ByMarta Pascual Juanola

The committee hearing has just been told about how the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers took an active role in instigating the attempted insurgency.

Many members of the groups were inspired by Trump’s tweet in December 2020 telling supporters to come to the Capitol on January 6,2021.

“But the extremists took it a step further,they viewed this tweet as a call to arms,” the hearing was told.

A day after the tweet was published,the Proud Boys created a chat called The Ministry of Self-Defence where they established a command structure in anticipation of January 6,2021.

The Oath Keepers began planning to block the peaceful transfer of power shortly after the November 2020 election.

Group leaderStewart Rhodes told his followers they were not going to “get through this without a civil war” following Trump’s December tweet.

In response to the tweet,the president of the Florida chapter shared Trump’s call on social media and told followers:“He wants us to make it wild”.

The committee investigation uncovered that the Oath Keepers had set up quick reaction forces outside of the city in Virginia where they stored arms.

Stewart Rhodes,the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers.Credit:Jared Ramsdell/Journal Inquirer via AP

The goal of these quick reaction forces was to be on standby in case President Trump invoked the insurrection act,the hearing was told.

The Oath Keepers went into the Capitol through the east doors in two stack formations.

People associated with the Proud Boys instigated the initial breach of the peace circle at 12.53pm.

By 2pm rioters had reached the doors on the west and the east plazas,and by 2.13pm rioters had actually broken through the Senate’s main door and gotten to the Capitol building.

A series of breaches followed at 2.25pm. The mob infiltrated the building,and moved to the Crypt,the Rotunda,and the hallways leading to the House and Senate chambers.

A British filmmaker giving evidence during the hearing said about 200 Proud Boys had begun marching towards the Capitol before Trump even began his speech.

11.22am on Jun 10,2022

Officer knocked unconscious in Capitol attack testifies

ByMarta Pascual Juanola

Officer Caroline Edwards was standing near bike racks at the perimeter of the Capitol,trying to prevent the mob from advancing when she was knocked unconscious.

US Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards arrives as the House select committee.Credit:AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

She is testifying about her experience on January 6,2021.

I was called a lot of things on January 6,2021 and the days thereafter. I was called Nancy Pelosi’s dog,called incompetent,called a hero and a villain. I was called a traitor to my country,my oath,and my constitution. In actuality,I was none of those things. I was an American standing face to face with other Americans,asking myself many times how we had gotten here.
I had been called names before,but never had my patriotism or duty been called into question.
I who got up every day,no matter how early the hour,or how late I got in the night before,to put on my uniform,and to protect America symbol of democracy. I whose literal blood,sweat and tears were shed that day,defending the building that I spent countless holidays and weekends working in.
They dared to question my honour. They dared to question my loyalty. And they dared to question my duty. I’m a proud American,and I will gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that the America my grandfather defended is here for many years to come.

11.13am on Jun 10,2022

Hearing resumes

The committee hearing has now resumed.

We will bring you the latest shortly.

11.12am on Jun 10,2022

‘Your dishonour will remain’:Cheney to Republicans

ByMarta Pascual Juanola

During this first hour of the hearing,we’ve heard mostly from committee chairman Bennie Thompson and member Liz Cheney.

Cheney,daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney,is one of only two Republicans on the House committee investigating the riots and has been ostracised by her own party for taking part in the probe.

During her address at the hearing,she took aim at her fellow Republicans over their support for Trump.

“As our founding fathers recognised democracy is fragile and people in positions of public trust are duty-bound to defend it,to step forward when action is required,” she said.

“In our country,we don’t swear an oath to an individual or a political party. We take our oath to defend the United States Constitution and that oath must mean something.

“Tonight,I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible. There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone,but your dishonour will remain.”

11.05am on Jun 10,2022

Insurrection? Sedition? A legal guide to the riots

More than 850 people have been criminally charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol.

Most are accused of conventional offences such as trespassing and assault,while 16 members of two right-wing groups are facing a more exotic charge:seditious conspiracy.

Just before he left office,Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection but was acquitted of the charge by the Senate. The legal terminology around the unprecedented events that shocked Americans and the rest of the world requires some unpacking.

What is insurrection?

The term broadly means a revolt against an established government,usually employing violence. However,the federal statute against it — which is rooted in the American Civil War of the 1860s and provides up to 10 years’ imprisonment for inciting,assisting or engaging in insurrection — doesn’t define the term,so the parameters of the law are unclear. It’s been prosecuted rarely.

What is seditious conspiracy?

It’s the name given in federal law to the crime of sedition,which generally means the organised encouragement of rebellion or civil disorder against the authority of the state.

In this case,the statute,also a reaction to the Civil War,spells out acts that constitute violations. This includes two or more people conspiring to overthrow the US government or to forcibly oppose its authority,interfere with the execution of any law,or seize any property of the US. The crime carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. The government has filed only a handful of sedition cases in the last 80 years and not all have been successful.

What would prosecutors have to prove in the sedition cases?

Intent is important. It’s not enough for prosecutors to demonstrate that the accused advocated violence. Investigators have to show evidence of a deliberate conspiracy to use force to prevent the certification of Biden’s election.

What is incitement?

Legally,incitement is the act of urging others to commit a crime. The article of impeachment against Trump adopted by the House cited his comments before a crowd of supporters January 6,2021,when he urged them to march to the Capitol while saying,fallaciously,that he had won the presidential election and that “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore”.

Bloomberg