![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Outside-area_800.jpg\")
The crowd of truthfully peaceful Trump supporters outside of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, supporting America and protesting the massive election fraud. [All photos by MassResistance.]<\/p><\/div>Richard Howell, a resident of Massachusetts and a long-time friend of MassResistance, traveled to Washington, DC on Jan. 6 to hear President Trump\u2019s speech near the White House and then attend the scheduled pro-Trump rally outside the US Capitol building.<\/em><\/p>\n What he saw was quite different than what most Americans have heard from the media (much of which are outright lies) \u2013 and certainly different from any other conservative rally. Since then, many reports have appeared in conservative media of intense infiltration by Antifa there that day (see here<\/a><\/strong> and here<\/strong><\/a> and here<\/strong><\/a>) to create the trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Richard told us a few days after he returned:<\/em><\/p>\n ________________<\/p>\n We\u2019re all hearing that Trump\u2019s speech that day riled the people to attack the Capitol. That\u2019s a complete lie.<\/strong> If anything, his speech was so subdued people were walking away early because they weren\u2019t hearing enough fire from him. I\u2019ve never seen that happen at a Trump speech ever before. And I remember looking at the guys I was standing with and saying to them, \u201cI don\u2019t know what he\u2019s doing, but there has to be a reason he is doing this the way he\u2019s doing it.\u201d I left just when his speech was concluding..<\/p>\n I\u2019m walking up Pennsylvania Ave. from the President\u2019s speech at the Ellipse. It\u2019s about a 40-minute walk, but I was in a rush to get there and made it in 25 minutes. I\u2019m hungry. I\u2019m thirsty. And I\u2019m wondering where our people are \u2013 that\u2019s what\u2019s on my mind. The White House grounds are completely blocked off, which is normal. So I\u2019m walking up and behind me I see a throng of hundreds of thousands of people packed together. They were our supporters coming up, and I\u2019m glad I\u2019m here. They\u2019re probably five or ten minutes behind me.<\/p>\n As I\u2019m walking, I notice a policeman in an SUV, and he\u2019s taking pictures of the crowd like everybody else. \u00a0I went up to him and I said, \u201cYeah, you too huh?\u201d I\u2019m joking with him and he started to laugh. And he was the last policeman I saw.<\/p>\n I get over to the end of Pennsylvania Ave., right where the Capitol circular drive starts. And I see nothing but our people there, large numbers of them. And I didn\u2019t see one police officer of any stripe \u2013 Capitol police, Capitol building police (which is under the control of Speaker Pelosi), or any others. The people were just standing where they were. You had to work your way through that crowd. A lot of people were doing that, but many were standing still.<\/p>\n As I\u2019m working my way through the crowd \u2013 it\u2019s not quite one o\u2019clock \u2013 and as I\u2019m approaching the building, I\u2019m hearing people saying, \u201cWow, I can\u2019t believe this, we have a good spot here.\u201d And I thought, \u201cYou know, they\u2019re letting people be very close to the building.\u201d Now, I haven\u2019t seen that in a couple of decades. The Capitol building is usually a fortress, and those grounds are cordoned off with barriers and policemen all over the place. If you\u2019ve been there, you\u2019ve certainly seen that.<\/p>\n In fact, the last few times I was down there, they were even kicking people off the Supreme Court grounds next to the Capitol, which was ridiculous. People weren\u2019t anywhere close to the Capitol building but the police were kicking them out.<\/p>\n So this time we\u2019re wide open to the Capitol building, and we\u2019ll be able to get a good spot there. But it was a little hard to get there, because there were some people standing still and not moving, and other people were trying to work their way through, like me!<\/p>\n Then in the background, somewhere, I don\u2019t know where, I hear whiz bang, thud, whiz bang, thud, whiz bang, thud.\u00a0 I\u2019m like, what was that? Who\u2019s shooting? It sounded as if there were some kind of canisters. I don\u2019t know who was shooting them or what. I presumed it was the police, but I didn\u2019t know. At first I thought it was maybe some kind of troublemaker, maybe an Antifa guy or BLM guy, doing that. I thought, \u201cThis is odd.\u201d<\/p>\n And then I get closer to where there\u2019s a brick plaza, the last long stretch of territory before you get to the columns in the south portico. I only get to the edge of that, as there was no need to go further. As I\u2019m looking around, nothing big is happening. There are people that are trying to move forward.<\/p>\n Suddenly I\u2019m hearing some people in back of me shout, \u201cOh, go forward, go forward fellow patriots!\u201d I\u2019m saying to myself, \u201cI don\u2019t know these idiots, I know where I need to go, I don\u2019t have to listen to these imbiciles.\u201d I just thought these guys were trying to be hotshots.<\/p>\n I\u2019m at that area for probably five or ten minutes and I smell smoke and I see people streaming back. There are a lot of people in front of me and they\u2019re coming back and their eyes are watering and they\u2019re covering their faces. I said, \u201cMy God, that\u2019s tear gas.\u201d So I back off. I retreat back to just before that area. And I said, \u201cSomething\u2019s happening. This is trouble. And I can\u2019t believe these are our people. Our people just don\u2019t get into that.\u201d<\/p>\n People are streaming back and they\u2019re holding their eyes. And then, when it cleared up \u2013 it might have been another five or ten minutes \u2013 I go back again.<\/p>\n As I\u2019m going \u2013 this is probably about 1:15 pm \u2013 I\u2019m hearing a guy not far away making an announcement, \u201cPence just certified, Pence just certified.\u201d People are saying, \u201cWhat! My God, that can\u2019t be true!\u201d<\/p>\n I pulled him aside and said, \u201cWhere did you get that information?\u201d And I think he said, \u201cOh, I got it off of NewsMax or One America.\u201d Whatever he told me, it seemed credible and I wasn\u2019t shocked. Then there was a guy with a bullhorn standing on one of the concrete retaining walls nearby, and he\u2019s saying, \u201cYes, it looks like the Vice President has betrayed us, it looks like he has certified. But that\u2019s preliminary information. Does anyone have any information to the contrary?\u201d<\/p>\n Nobody really knew what Pence had done. So lie number two was that people were there to hang Pence. Nobody had a clue what was going on; people weren\u2019t thinking about that.<\/p>\n Then I see more tear gas and more people coming by. I tried to phone my buddies who were somewhere in the crowd, but our cell phones were not able to communicate. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised that they were jamming the phone signals. But I finally was able to I hear one of them say, \u201cThere are guys on the staircases now,\u201d but the signal was lost again.<\/p>\n Then I looked up and saw some guys were on the scaffolding (that\u2019s there presumably for the inauguration ceremonies). So, I\u2019m thinking, \u201cWhat are these guys in the scaffolding for? This is crazy. You\u2019re going to be surrounded and apprehended by security.\u201d<\/p>\n But I don\u2019t see any policeman anywhere. Normally (pun intended) it\u2019s a capital offense if you get to the building and you\u2019re not supposed to be there. They\u2019ll rush you down, they\u2019ll shoot you. They\u2019ll bind you up and take you away. But the Capitol police were nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n The guys in the scaffolding, who looked like they were trying to breach the building, were just standing there with goofy smiles on their faces. It was just very tacky, which is another thing that really looked weird. They certainly didn\u2019t seem like our people at all.<\/p>\n The guys on the scaffolding began waving American flags, and the people in the crowd didn\u2019t know who they were \u2013 some were cheering and some were just looking at them, and some people were saying, \u201cWhy are they doing that?\u201d<\/p>\n But tear gas was still going off \u2013 you could see the smoke \u2013 and blowing back to the crowd from the front, which by now disturbed a lot of people. It seemed as if police somewhere were doing this, and the people were getting upset. They\u2019re saying, \u201cWe\u2019re here, exercising our rights, and they\u2019re firing on us. Why are they doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n I said to someone, \u201cIf we were Antifa or BLM, they wouldn\u2019t be doing this.\u201d and the guy said, \u201cYeah they certainly wouldn\u2019t be.\u201d That was the sentiment. So people really were dismayed that they were being treated this way. It\u2019s also likely that Antifa was doing the tear-gassing \u2013 which I\u2019ll get to.<\/p>\n Finally, for the first time all day, I see six Capitol policemen, scurrying down a metal staircase right near that scaffolding. They are pointing at one of the guys up there \u2013 there may have been 3 or 4 there, I couldn\u2019t see them all because there was a tarp in the way. One of them was pointing back at the police officer. Now the voices can carry, and I was close enough to hear some of what was said. The police were saying, \u201cGet out of there now!\u201d And the guy was saying, \u201cNo! We\u2019re not getting out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n And, I don\u2019t know where it came from, but all of a sudden a canister of tear gas came out from the scaffolding into the crowd of policemen. One of them got hit in the face. And the other five police had to carry him away.<\/p>\n No police came back! Normally when you assault a policeman like that or you\u2019re in the middle of that, even if you\u2019re defending yourself, you\u2019re going to have a platoon come down and take you out. If six guys couldn\u2019t take those guys out they\u2019re going to send 21 down to stop them, right? \u00a0But nothing, zero.<\/p>\n And at this time I see this man who was shot, by rubber bullets. His jacket was shredded, he was being helped by three people, two men and a woman. And he\u2019s sitting in a corner.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, my friends texted me and said they were on the other side of the building near where the Supreme Court faces.\u00a0 So I said, \u201cOK, I\u2019ll see you in a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n But first I wanted to see if this other man was going to be OK.\u00a0 And he went into shock, the medics came and got him, and I don\u2019t know what happened with him after that. He didn\u2019t look like he was particularly quarrelsome. The only thing I remember is that he had cowboy boots on. Other than that he seemed like a clean cut, middle-aged fellow. His temple was grazed by a bullet. He looked like he was also shot in the chest. He was bleeding from the hands and was bandaged there. Maybe also shot in the arm and leg, I don\u2019t know. Once he was out of there I figured, OK, I\u2019m leaving now, because I want to find my friends on the other side of the building.<\/p>\n But then I saw a group of guys directing the other people there to go into the Capitol building. They were shouting, \u201cCome on patriots, go in! This is our house! Yeah! The second American Revolution!\u201d\u00a0 I was shaking my head saying, \u201dThis is a trap, this is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n But there were guys going in! Now, some of them looked to be guys that would have been our guys. They were dressed the right way, they were acting the right way. In other words, they were people that I was convinced were actually Trump constitutionalist supporters that were just getting carried away.<\/p>\n But the guys leading them in there were different. I thought, \u201cSomething\u2019s wrong. This is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n So I backed off.\u00a0 I wanted to go to where my friends were. So I walked around the building to the west portico. And I could see some officers around the corner, but not many.<\/p>\n The west portico faces the Supreme Court building. And the two wings \u2013 the House and the Senate, and also the middle wing \u2013 all had our people on the staircases, all the way to the top. On the landing of each wing there was a police corps in there, of I don\u2019t know how many policeman altogether, but 30 at least. (It\u2019s not a continuous building, it\u2019s sectioned off. You have a portico in each one of the entrance ways.)<\/p>\n In each one of those cases, I could see that the police and our guys were probably a meter apart. Nobody was in anybody\u2019s space. It was pretty calm. You know, some of the guys were talking with each other, some guys were chanting a little bit, but not too much. And that was the case in each one of those three staircases there. And I am thinking to myself, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t they do this at the south portico?\u201d Well of course the answer is obvious, there were activists looking to stage something on the south portico. There is no doubt in my mind.<\/p>\n Nancy Pelosi controls the Capitol security and the Capitol police in the building. Mayor Muriel Bowser also controls the Capitol police. And there was no doubt in my mind they were setting things up. There is no other explanation for it and that\u2019s what turned out to happen.<\/p>\n After that point, we left to go to our metro stations to get to our rides back.<\/p>\n When I was at the front side, the south portico, I could see activity right up front, but I couldn\u2019t see what was happening up in the wings. I didn\u2019t see any windows being broken.<\/p>\n One interesting story after the scaffolding incident: Some of the guys crawled all the way up to the top balcony in the portico. And I\u2019m thinking, \u201cWhat are they doing? They\u2019re really asking for trouble now.\u201d<\/p>\n Once we’re up there, I could hear people saying, \u201cThe doors are open! The doors are open!\u201d Not like they broke them in or somebody else broke them in, they were surprised the doors were open.<\/p>\n I thought, \u201cThat can\u2019t be, these people are delusional. There\u2019s no way the doors can be open.\u201d Somebody asked me if I thought they got in. I said, \u201cThere\u2019s no way. I just can\u2019t see them getting in the building.\u201d But I was wrong. Clearly, they did get in!<\/p>\n There was no doubt that there was something very strange going on. But I didn\u2019t think much about it till afterwards. Once incident in particular now stands out.<\/p>\n As I mentioned, earlier there were people streaming by me that had tear gas in their eyes. And there were two fellows in particular I remember, a white man and a black man. They were stocky men, lightly dressed even though it was freezing out. And I said to them, \u201cAre you all right?\u201d because their eyes were watery and they looked different than the other people walking by. They just looked very different. And they ignored me. And I said to them again, because they were walking slowly by me, they couldn\u2019t run by me. I said, \u201cHey, are you all right?\u201d And they ignored me again. I said, \u201cI asked you if you\u2019re all right.\u201d They blurted out, \u201cYeah, yeah.\u201d And they looked at me in a hostile fashion. I believe those men were probably the Antifa\/BLM infiltrators or deep-state\/FBI operatives and ran into their own tear gas.<\/p>\n Another thing that went through my mind afterwards: I definitely think this was some kind of planned operation to orchestrate this whole mess, with the authorities in collusion. My friend on the west side of the portico told me that they saw helmeted men coming by, and they definitely looked to them like the Antifa crowd who we used to face off against back home in Boston. And when the crowd was trying to interact with them, they were very hostile and standoffish to them, and made it very clear they didn\u2019t want any part of them. Those aren\u2019t our people.<\/p>\n Just the way it went off, not to mention the damage that was done, this was definitely not what our people would do. That\u2019s all a BLM\/Antifa\/deep-state move. It looked like they were doing to us what they had been doing to Trump. They were setting us up and trying to make us look bad and creating an incident that we didn\u2019t create but they created, and were blaming us for it. That\u2019s what it came down to.<\/p>\n No sooner did I leave the Capitol grounds on was on my way to the Metro that I was messaged about ten times. There was an edict by Mayor Bowser that she would be shutting down the city at 6:00 pm. All our people would be out at 4:00 or 4:30 anyway, so that was not a big deal. But it was still strange.<\/p>\n Then the Capitol police started showing up in force! There were suddenly all of the cars that you\u2019d normally see there. The Secret Service had their baton and shield crowd out, and some of them looked like overweight females. It was weird. But they were well armed and weaponized.<\/p>\n In fact, the vast majority of people that were there \u2013 99% of them \u2013 didn\u2019t get very close to the Capitol building. And most of the people, I could see their faces, most of them did not move from where they were, they wanted to stay put.<\/p>\n As I said, there were only 6 police officers that I remember seeing the entire time there was trouble at the south portico, the main entrance. There were zero there for the first half hour I was there. Zero. There was nothing to stop people.<\/p>\n I have to hand it to the other side\u2019s organizers. There\u2019s no question that they pulled off a masterful stoke. Nobody on our side could see it coming. Nobody was thinking about this. Our guys weren\u2019t talking about doing anything inappropriate. You know, how long have we been doing these kinds of rallies, and nothing bad has ever happened? Personally, I\u2019ve been at hundreds of Republican or conservative events over the past decades without incident.<\/p>\n And the funny thing is, if you look at the video, which I saw after the fact, you could see that our guys that went in were on the rotunda taking pictures like tourists. And they were walking properly through the purple ropes, where you\u2019re not supposed to go to your right or your left. That\u2019s quite an insurrection, isn\u2019t it? And, the police were in there were taking selfies with these guys, they\u2019re interacting with them. They were standing around letting these guys walk all over, no problem.<\/p>\n So much for the riot and insurrection narrative. Those people \u2013 Pelosi, Bowser, and the other DC authorities \u2013 are complicit as hell.<\/p>\n MassResistance needs to get the word out about what really happened.<\/p>\nPresident Trump\u2019s speech at the Ellipse<\/h3>\n
Walking to the Capitol<\/h3>\n
![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/Going-to-Capitol_800.jpg\")
Not far behind Richard was on Pennsylvania Avenia was this crowd of Trump supporters.<\/span><\/div>\nArriving at the Capitol<\/h3>\n
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Police allowed people to stand anywhere they wanted.<\/span><\/div>\n![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/Steps-outside_800.jpg\")
People could stand on the stairs and on the balconies.<\/span><\/div>\nThings began to happen<\/h3>\n
Tear gas<\/h3>\n
The lie about wanting to go after Pence<\/h3>\n
![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/More-flag-waving_800.jpg\")
People were just enjoying the event. Despite what the media keeps saying, nobody was thinking about rioting at all.<\/span><\/div>\nGuys up on the scaffolding<\/h3>\n
![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/On-scaffolding_700.jpg\")
People up on the scaffolding.<\/span><\/div>\nA few police show up<\/h3>\n
Man shot by rubber bullets<\/h3>\n
Shouts of \u201cGo into the building!\u201d<\/h3>\n
At the other side of the Capitol building<\/h3>\n
A few more observations<\/h3>\n
Antifa?<\/h3>\n
Final thoughts<\/h3>\n
![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/Helmet1_406.jpg\")
Nobody on our side wears military-style helmuts. But it’s standard with Antifa or deep-state intelligence people..<\/span><\/div>\n![\"ALT](\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen4\/21a\/Eyewitness-account-at-US-Capitol-Jan6\/images\/Helmut2_400.jpg\")
<\/div>\n