It was around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when Jack Stelzner heard Capitol Police knocking rapidly on an office door of the Cannon House Office Building, telling him and others inside they needed to evacuate.
Stelzner, who started his job as press secretary for Nevada Congressman Steven Horsford on Sunday, shared his experience on Thursday morning on the Morning News with Dave Lee.
"I had literally just two minute prior been watching a video of some of the, I think, domestic terrorists storming the Capitol," Stelzner said. "I had seen them basically playing tug-of-war with a barricade with some of the members of Capitol Police. That's all I knew at that point."
Stelzner said the evacuation was swift.
"We had to gather our things really quickly, make sure the office was locked down, and make sure any sensitive information was put away," he said. "As soon as we stepped out of the office, there were members of the Capitol Police running up and down the hallways, knocking on doors, and making sure everyone had the information and was getting out."
From there, he along with other staff members and members of Congress were instructed to go to a secure location to await further instructions from police.
"After about an hour, we received an email that informed us that it was all clear," said Stelzner.
That "all-clear" didn't last long.
"Within minutes of being back in the office we received another evacuation warning," he said. "We returned back to a new location and stayed there for about 5 or 6 hours."
Inside the original secure location, Stelzner told Lee that the situation was tense as people didn't know what to expect. Those inside knew of the massive crowd that had gathered to protest the results of the 2020 election.
"The people in and around the Capitol complex, including the Capitol Police, I think did a really good job of maintaining emotion, particularly in our area."
Inside, Stelzner said they huddled around a television, as socially distanced as possible, the follow the news-perspective of what was unfolding.
"I got home a 3:30 a.m. Wednesday," Stelzner said. "The all-clear was given at 2:30 a.m. but I didn't head home until the Electoral College reporting was finished in the House, which ended around 3 a.m."
You can hear the whole interview with Jack Stelzner from the WCCO Radio Morning News in the clip below.
