Under battle flags bearing Donald Trump's name, the Capitol's attackers pinned a bloodied police officer in a doorway, his twisted face and screams captured on video. They mortally wounded another officer with a blunt weapon and body-slammed a third over a railing into the crowd.
"Hang Mike Pence!" the insurrectionists chanted as they pressed inside, beating police with pipes. They demanded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's whereabouts, too. They hunted any and all lawmakers: "Where are they?" Outside, makeshift gallows stood, complete with sturdy wooden steps and the noose. Guns and pipe bombs had been stashed in the vicinity.
Only days later is the extent of the danger from one of the darkest episodes in American democracy coming into focus. The sinister nature of the assault has become evident, revealing the crowd as a force determined to occupy the inner sanctums of Congress and run down leaders — Trump's vice president and the Democratic House speaker among them.
With just nine days left before President Donald Trump's term comes to an end, the House of Representatives is forging ahead with plans to try to remove the president from office following his role in his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.
In a letter to her Democratic caucus Sunday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House would attempt to pass a resolution on Monday calling on Vice President Mike Pence to mobilize the Cabinet and invoke the 25th Amendment, thereby relieving Trump of his duties.
