Chaos at the Capitol

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

GBH

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A violent mob of President Donald Trump's supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6, as Congress met to certify Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. The rioters plotted for weeks beforehand on social media, mobilizing around the president's false claims of a stolen election.

Who are the forces behind the attack, how did it unfold and why was the law enforcement presence so easily overpowered?

ProPublica reporter and FRONTLINE correspondent A.C. Thompson, who covered the rise of right-wing extremism for our joint "Documenting Hate" series, joins The FRONTLINE Dispatch to discuss what happened at the Capitol and what the future may hold.

Thompson’s reporting is part of an ongoing collaboration between ProPublica and FRONTLINE that includes an upcoming documentary.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Breaking right now an external security threat has now interrupted House and the
0:05.4	senatorial electoral vote count. Both House and Senate are in recess amid
0:09.6	protesters breaching the Capitol building.
0:12.2	Events in Washington have taken a violent and tumultuous turn in the past few hours.
0:16.5	So we saw capital police trying to push people back, hold them back.
0:20.8	Just right next to me, there is a massive amount of what appears to be
0:24.1	blood on the ground here. Things are happening very quickly there on it appears
0:28.0	to be the east side of the capital people now have moved past the police and into the building.
0:34.0	The images are astonishing,
0:36.0	rioters on the Senate dies
0:38.0	in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office
0:41.0	ransacking the hallowed halls of our government.
0:43.3	This is a moment I never saw in my life.
0:45.7	These individuals just rushed through security.
0:49.5	On January 6th, as Congress met to certify Joe Biden as the 46 president of the United States.
0:56.4	A violent mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.
1:01.1	There has been a death.
1:02.0	I just got off the phone with a spokesperson for MPD who tells me that the adult woman
1:06.8	who we've reported was in critical condition earlier today, she has now been pronounced
1:10.6	dead.
1:11.6	Three other people have died during today's events
1:14.8	due to medical emergencies.
	...

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