Tonko recalls tense moments of 2021 Capitol attack

Thursday is the first anniversary of the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

A House committee is preparing to go public with the findings of its ongoing investigation into the assault on January 6.

Rep. Paul Tonko held a virtual news conference Tuesday afternoon to talk about what he went through that day. He thought he was going to witness the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election as president.

"We began to get commands from the police officers saying that we had to get out the gas masks and wear them, to get on all fours and crawl through the gallery space. Ironically, we were seated, my colleagues and I were seated at the far end of a rectangular-shaped setting as to where we needed to exit, and so it was scooting under or climbing over railings at each section of the gallery," he recalled.

Tonko says one of his colleagues had recently had knee surgery and walked with a cane and another was on the floor, hyperventilating.
They still had to go down several sets of stairs to make it to the tunnel leading to the House office building.