[Applause]
it's just before noon
[Applause]
thousands of trump supporters have
gathered on the ellipse opposite the
white house
many have been waiting here for hours
at the other end of pennsylvania avenue
in the capital
members of congress are preparing to
certify the results of the election
that will make joe biden america's 46th
president the crowd of the ellipse is a
mix of people
men and women young and old some display
what appear to be militia symbols
these are from a group called the oath
keepers we'll see them again
later but mostly they're sporting the
apparel
familiar from so many rallies maga hats
and trump flags
they're here because they've been fed a
lie this is a fraud
on the american public we've never lost
an election this was a massive fraud
probably the most fraudulent election
that anyone's ever seen
in a few minutes donald trump will make
a speech that will
in the words of the impeachment filing
aim them like a loaded cannon
down pennsylvania avenue
just before the president comes out to
speak his son
don jr records this video backstage i
can't believe the size of the crowds
[Music]
these are the proud boys another
right-wing militia
seen a little earlier that morning out
of your boy
donald trump will not appear for another
hour or so but they're
already heading towards the capital
this footage was shot by newsnite's
david grossman
some of it is broadcast here for the
first time what's the plan tonight
taking our [ __ ] country back it was
clear they were pretty well organized
there was a guy at the front with a loud
hailer
and another guy in a sort of grey check
jacket now he had a radio and every now
and again he would sort of stop
and talk into the radio it's clear he
was communicating getting messages
sending messages to somebody
now i knew they were the proud boys
because well they told me that
but what i hadn't appreciated was just
how senior those guys at the front were
the man in the checked shirt is joe
biggs a proud boy leader from florida
slow it down on the left his friend with
the loud hailer
is ethan nordin another member of the
group
representing spirit of 1776 if you
haven't noticed
real men are here we know what the
health is important to
support defending constitutional united
states against foreign enemies and
domestic
let us remind those who have forgotten
what that means
both men would be at the forefront of
the assault on the capital
even before the election donald trump
had given the proud boys
a not so tacit nod of approval during
one of the debates
and right boys stand back and stand by
now it seems they believe their time has
come in front of our cameras they're not
forthcoming
about their plans but in other footage
there is a suggestion
of what lies ahead as a member of the
group apparently nicknamed
milkshake shouts
it's not clear whether this is one man's
bravado
or evidence of a plan let's not [ __ ]
yell that
all right
again we see biggs and nordine
donald trump has not yet started
speaking
he appears on stage at noon and about 15
minutes into his speech
starts urging his supporters to converge
on the capital
i know that everyone here will soon be
marching over to the capitol building
to peacefully and patriotically make
your voices heard
while the president is still speaking
outside the capital
the crowd is swelling a trump supporter
by the name of chris
was live streaming the event and he
agreed to speak to us
i was looking back towards the crowd at
that moment
in the video um somebody was talking on
a bull horn in front of me
nordine and biggs are visible in the
crowd
then a man in a blue denim jacket
appears
his flag obscures biggs but it looks
like there's an exchange between them
there was nothing that appeared to be
organized going on other than everybody
was just standing there
but less than two minutes later the man
in the denim jacket
spearheads a march towards the police
barrier
i was caught by surprise and i whip the
camera around
towards the capitol and i see the gate
go over
and everybody starts pushing towards the
capitol
this is a key moment it's the first time
the crowd breaks through the police
lines
onto the capitol grounds trump is still
speaking
the time is 12 53.
[Applause]
the police outnumbered try to contain
them
again we see familiar faces in the melon
later another proud boy member is seen
breaking into the capitol building
itself
dominick pizzola is a former marine from
new york state
when joe biggs makes his way inside he's
elated
[Applause]
[Music]
nordine biggs and pizzola have been
charged they're among at least a dozen
members of the proud boys to have been
arrested
in connection with the assault on the
capital according to an fbi affidavit
the man in the denim jacket is ryan
samson
he's not known to have any affiliation
with the proud boys
donald trump ended his speech with
perhaps his most
incendiary comments of the day and we
fight
we fight like hell and if you don't
fight like hell you're not going to have
a country anymore
so let's walk down pennsylvania avenue
unlike the proud boys we've been
tracking members of another militia
did stay for the speech at least most of
it
these were the oath keepers we saw them
with their black hoodies with yellow
lettering at the beginning of the film
the new york times has tracked their
movements that afternoon
shortly before one at almost the exact
time that the first barrier is breached
on the west side of the capital
they're seen filing out of the ellipse
among them was jessica watkins
a 38 year old army veteran from ohio
after the speech she and a number of
others get changed into full battle
dress
and head over to the east side of the
capital
at just after half past two a group of
them are seen
filing up the steps in military
formation another camera captures them
as they reach the doors jessica watkins
among them ten minutes later
she and a colleague donovan crowler
inside recording selfies on his phone
took over the capital overran the
capitol
watkins and crowl have been charged with
conspiracy
along with a third member of the group
according to an fbi affidavit
watkins and other oath keepers
communicated by walkie-talkie during the
incursion
in one recording captured by a reporter
for new york public radio
a voice believed to be watkins says we
have a good group we got about 30 40 of
us
we're sticking together and sticking to
the plan we'll see you soon
just airborne after that brother
godspeed and fair winds to us
amen sister stay safe the actions of
groups like the oath keepers the proud
boys and others
suggest a level of planning and
organization that
preceded trump's speech on the day
but that's not the full story a lot of
the footage that day
suggests a disparate and disorganized
group of people
united only by a perceived grievance
american people deserve the [ __ ]
truth they were responding to calls from
president donald trump
to come to washington to stop the
constitutional process of the congress
certifying the election for president
biden
so this is clearly a case of political
violence
[Music]
some of these people look like they just
went with the flow
don't break stuff you don't want to be
liable
and when they found themselves inside
the citadel of political power
had no idea what to do 89
of the capitol hill insurrectionists
have no connection to
a militant organization like the proud
boys
or the oath keepers
a team of researchers at the university
of chicago has analyzed the profiles of
nearly 200 people who've been arrested
for their part
in the assault on the capital and
they're perhaps not the kind of people
you might expect the norm with political
violence is to see
people in their late 20s maybe early 30s
here the average age is 40.
point number two is how few are
unemployed
40 of the capitol hill insurrectionists
are
business owners ceos and
white collar occupations their doctors
their lawyers their accountants their
i.t specialists
um this is uh extremely
extraordinary
chris the live stream says he did not go
inside the capitol building itself
he has mixed feelings about what
happened that day
i've actually had a hard time watching
my video
really yeah
it it brings back a lot of emotion
because it was such an emotional moment
that happened
um
so yeah i i strangely i have
it it's it's sort of it still very much
bothers me
it it clearly felt wrong what was
happening because
you could see signs that said you know
off limits no
you know stay off property uh keep
out signs i definitely felt the sort of
patriotism i knew what in their hearts
they were fighting
because those are the stories that we
had heard that's
the injustice we'll call it that they
were that they were out there
and and that's the emotion and the
energy that i was feeling in that crowd
and still to this day dude
the assault on the capital shook america
to its foundations
a second impeachment is an ignominious
and unprecedented end to a presidency
but impeachment is a political process
donald trump will almost certainly
be acquitted again and the history books
will likely record the events of the 6th
of january
not as the culmination of four turbulent
years
but is the start of a still more
unpredictable era
i think it's best to see this as the
beginning
of the emergence of a new
movement with violence at its core
what we have are the key ingredients
for that movement to accelerate its
growth
going forward first there's now
a leader with demonstrated support
for extra legal activity
second there are masses of people who
believe in grievances
this uh stolen election and third
january 6th was a focal point event
this is an event that brought together
many disparate parts of these
individuals
and is helping to congeal them into an
actual
[Music]
movement