Congress members describe being locked inside Capitol amid mob attack

EXCLUSIVE: Political leaders during the intense moments today text messaged theGrio's April Ryan as a mob of Trump supporters stormed the government building

Members of Congress spoke out as mayhem ensued on Capitol Hill amid a mob of Trump supporters violently storming the Capitol building and damaging government property.

Congressional leaders during the intense moments today text messaged theGrio’s April Ryan

Read More: Ivanka Trump refers to protesters storming Capitol as ‘American patriots’

“They are in the Capitol and they are attacking us. They have locked the doors,” Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas told theGrio‘s April Ryan. “I am not fearful. I guess we are safe enough; we are locked in. Trump’s army still attacking.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Rep. Kweisi MFume (Photo: Getty Images)

Later in the day, from an undisclosed location, Maryland Democratic Congressman Kweisi MFume said in a text, ”I’m okay at the moment but there are a lot of innocent employees here that are in harm’s way. The anarchists are trying to break thru the door to the House floor. Shots have been fired. Trump must be charged with treason, sedition and inciting to riot.” 

Former Democratic New York Congressman Ed Towns, who was once the head of the House Government Oversight and Reform committee told theGrio that “the president of the United States has disgraced this nation.”

Towns, who has personally known President Donald Trump for years as they are both New Yorkers, conveyed his long-held sentiment: ”I truly believe the Congress should go into session and impeach him. A person with this sort of leadership should never be allowed to serve again.”

Read More: Biden demands Trump mob to pull back and ‘allow democracy to go forward’

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) questions witnesses about the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America December 11, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The former congressman watched in horror and even was said to have yelled at the television while he watched with his family at their Florida retreat during Wednesday’s unprecedented events. Towns said he is concerned for his former colleagues.

“I pray for the safety of my former colleagues. This is a sad day in America,” he said.

From Wilmington, Delaware President-elect Joe Biden took to television airwaves seeking to set the right tone amid chaos on the nation’s Capitol. 

President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and demand an end to this siege,” Biden said Wednesday afternoon.

Biden was speaking on the hours-long violent occupation of Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, emphasizing that America’s “democracy is fragile.”

At the end of his speech, Biden said plainly: “President Trump step up.“

On Twitter, there were calls from former President Bill Clinton‘s spokesperson, Joe Lockhart, for Trump cabinet members to come together and remove the president.

Conservative George Conway, the husband of former Trump staffer Kellyanne Conway, tweeted his call for impeachment proceedings. Those feelings were echoed by some members of Congress including Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Ilhan Omar.

President Trump ultimately offered a video plea that did not rise to the occasion. He told his followers, “You have to go home now, you have to have peace.”

The president was still holding on to his wrongful claims of voter fraud in the video saying, “this was a fraudulent election but we can’t play into the hands of these people. Go home we love you. You are special.”

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