Photos from Jan. 6, as a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol

Publish date: 2024-08-16

While the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was raging, it was photographs from the ground that made clear that a protest had turned into an insurrection.

Rioters violently confronting police on the steps of the building. People entering the Capitol through broken windows or broken-down doors. The traitorous Confederate flag being carried through the halls of Congress.

These images — quickly transmitted on screens across the world — have come to define that day.

But there were also scenes that photographers were not present to document. Moments that occurred in areas restricted to cameras, including the Senate chamber, the secure hideaways for lawmakers or inside the Oval Office, and were witnessed only by the limited few allowed in those spaces.

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Paul

Kane

“From my initial vantage point, inside the Senate chamber in the press gallery directly above the senators and vice president, two such images stand out, moments that no photographer captured in the chaos of that day.”Senior congressional correspondent and columnist Kane was inside the Senate chamber as lawmakers contested the Arizona electoral votes

  • The orange “police” sash hung on one shoulder and the automatic weapon draped over the other shoulder of the Capitol Police officer in civilian clothing who stood between the two Senate leaders, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). The chamber doors had just been locked, Vice President Mike Pence had been evacuated out of the Senate by the Secret Service, and the Capitol Police had taken over the room, barking out orders to the senators, staffers and journalists. For 15 minutes, as rioters were just outside the back door, carrying a Confederate flag, we were locked down. The entire time that lone officer, standing a couple of feet between Schumer on his right and McConnell on his left, rotated his eyes among the three doors where rioters might try to break through. He never said a word. He just kept moving his eyes from one door to the next and the next, and back again.
  • A few minutes later, after police ordered everyone to evacuate the Senate for the underground Capitol Visitors Center — built at a cost of more than $600 million in case of an attack — we got to the basement only to discover a lone officer holding the CVC doors shut, all by himself. The supposedly secure bunker had been breached by the insurrectionists, he screamed, go the other way, go the other way. So, in an impromptu moment, police sent the caravan of senators, staff and press racing underground toward the Russell Senate Office Building, using tunnels to get there, before eventually finding a secure committee room in another building. I have no idea how long that one officer held that CVC door shut, but I think of him often.

    • While these images are confined to the memories of those who experienced them, much of that day was captured thanks to the harrowing work by the brave photojournalists of The Washington Post.

    A year later, they reflect on the most memorable moments they witnessed. Images we can share with the world.

    Matt

    McClain

    “The only other time I’ve seen people in those branches … was on the day of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. The contrast between those two events could not have been more polar opposite. In 2009 there was so much joy and optimism; last year there was anger and distrust.”Photojournalist McClain began the day at the Save America March as supporters of President Donald Trump gathered for a rally that stretched from the White House to the Washington Monument.

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    Astrid

    Riecken

    “So many looked like they were going to war. I saw one protester pulling up his sweater in front of the Capitol building so we could see a gun stuck behind his belt.”Photojournalist Riecken was at the Washington Monument photographing the overflowing Trump rally.

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    Amanda

    Andrade

    -Rhoades

    “I’ve been covering protests since I was an 18-year-old at my college paper, but in the decade I’ve been covering civil unrest, I’ve never seen a police force so outnumbered. If I turned toward the National Mall, I could see thousands of angry people, many of them in bulletproof vests and carrying baseball bats, knives and whatever other weapons I couldn’t see.”Photojournalist Andrade-Rhoades documented clashes with police along the base of Joe Biden’s inaugural platform at the West Front of the Capitol in the early afternoon.

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    Michael S.

    Williamson

    “The crowd started to get excited and agitated when word spread that the Ellipse crowd was coming. I made my way over to Constitution Avenue and saw thousands of energized, flag-waving marchers making their way up Capitol Hill. I couldn’t help but think of the classic line from the movie ‘Jaws’ when a stunned Chief Brody sees the shark up close for the first time and tells Captain Quint, ‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat.’”Photojournalist Williamson watched crowds of Trump supporters march toward the Capitol.

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    Michael

    Robinson

    Chavez

    “The difficulties of the last few years — pandemic, polarization, racial divisions and anger — seemed to erupt all around me on Jan. 6. It made me think about how democracy in this country is hanging by a thread that is rapidly unraveling.”Photojournalist Robinson Chavez documented Trump supporters scaling a wall on the Senate side of the Capitol.

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    Bonnie Jo

    Mount

    “After the breach a message rippled through the crowd that ‘patriots’ had forced their way into the Capitol. It was difficult to know what was happening inside, but the mood on the lawn was triumphant. Some chanted. Some cheered. Some prayed. Others crowded the West Front, raising flags and fists.”Photojournalist Mount documented celebrations outside the Capitol.

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    Bill

    O’Leary

    “We’re up in the gallery, and we’re being admonished not to take pictures. This became the single most annoying aspect of this whole fracas: ‘No pictures, no pictures. This is off the record. Put that camera down.’ All my pictures were taken surreptitiously that day.”Photojournalist O'Leary was photographing the arrival of the electoral ballots inside the House chamber at the Capitol when the building was breached.

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    Amanda

    Voisard

    “Somehow we ended up in a congressional office. At this point, I was really very, very particular when I would take a frame. It’s a situation as a journalist where you have to use as much discretion and as much know-how to know when to click the shutter and when not to.I knew it was something that I had to document. It was not just a historical moment, but it was something that people needed to know about. They needed to understand what was happening to these people in this room.”Photojournalist Voisard became sequestered in a congressional office with staffers as the Capitol was breached.

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    Ricky

    Carioti

    “Someone built and transported a hangman’s gallows to the U.S. Capitol grounds. As I walked and came across this, I watched Trump supporters climb up and have their photos taken on the gallows platform. I was saddened to see Americans use a symbol of such hate for a photo op.”Photojournalist Carioti witnessed crowds gather on the west side of the Capitol grounds.

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    Evelyn

    Hockstein

    “I was in such shock. I could see people scaling the walls, and I could see this sea of hateful, hateful flags. Tears welled up in my eyes. I certainly felt scared, but I was also really angry.I’ve been doing this for a really long time, and this powerful emotional reaction shook me. But I was like: ‘Okay, you got to pull it together. You can’t cry. You can’t look upset. You can’t anything. You can’t look angry. You can’t show any feeling. You have to just be a journalist and keep yourself safe.’”Photojournalist Hockstein captured the moment police fired a stun grenade to regain control of the Capitol in the early evening.

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    Jabin

    Botsford

    “You think when you are inside the White House you are in the center of what’s happening. On this day it was all about what was happening outside the White House. We kept waiting for President Trump to come out and say something. I made really the only photo you can make on a day where you don’t see the president.”Photojournalist Botsford was stationed at the White House on Jan. 6.

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    Katherine

    Frey

    “It was eerily quiet on the walk out of there. I was one of the last journalists to leave. You’re just running on adrenaline. I don’t think I got out of the Capitol until 4 in the morning. It wasn’t until later that I realized how horrific and historic it was.”Photojournalist Frey arrived at the Capitol as Congress reconvened to certify the results of the election.

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    Oliver

    Contreras

    “They all looked exhausted. You could see and feel it in the air. The sadness and tension and anger. Nobody was talking to anybody. They were just thinking. I come from a place where there are a lot of earthquakes [Chile]. The same thing happened in the last earthquake I went through in 2010. It’s the same feeling. Nobody’s talking and everybody’s in shock and thinking, ‘What just happened?’ and ‘What can I do?’”Photojournalist Contreras closed out the day in the early-morning hours of Jan. 7.

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    Melina

    Mara

    “I cried. This place was sacred to me, both professionally and as a citizen. It had been disrespected and defiled, and I felt disrespected as well.”Photojournalist Mara went to the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 7 to document the aftermath of the attack.

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