WASHINGTON (WCBS 880) — House impeachment managers played never-before-seen footage captured by security cameras inside the U.S. Capitol as rioters stormed the building on the afternoon of Jan. 6.
One of the videos, which was played Wednesday as opening arguments began in former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, shows the mob approaching the building and breaking the windows with a wooden beam as a lone police officer quickly becomes overwhelmed after responding to the scene.
One of the men who broke in was wearing full tactical body armor and carrying a baseball bat. Others were carrying riot shields.
Rep. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands said members of the Proud Boys were among the group that streamed into the building.
Another video shows U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman warning Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of the breach and directing him to turn around to get to safety. Romney can be seen running away as Goodman heads downstairs to face the crowd.
Goodman was later seen encountering the rioters who were yelling, "Where are they counting the votes?'' He was eventually able to retreat up a staircase and direct the mob away from the Senate chamber, where then-Vice President Mike Pence was about 100 feet away with his family.
Another security video showed Pence and his family being evacuated to a secure location as elsewhere in the building more rioters started to spread throughout the Capitol.
Additional security footage shows Nancy Pelosi's staff took cover in a conference room where they managed to barricade the door just seven minutes before rioters entered the House speaker's office and tried breaking the door down.
In an audio recording, terrified staffers could be heard whispering into a phone hiding from the rioters at the door. "We need Capitol police," one staffer said. "They're pounding on the doors trying to find her."
Distressed radio calls from the Metropolitan Police Department were also made public for the first time Wednesday.
Officers could be heard begging for backup as violence erupted.
"We need some reinforcements up here now. They're starting to pull the gates down," one officer desperately yells. "They're throwing metal poles at us."
Prosecutors also showed footage of the rally Trump headlined ahead of the riot on the Capitol to argue he incited the crowd.
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