Video shows Republican lawmakers refusing masks during Capitol riot lockdown

Rep. Susan Wild says nearly half of the hundreds of lawmakers gathered refused to wear masks

A video taken inside the US Capitol during the attack on the building by Trump supporters shows multiple members of the Republican party turning down facemasks during a lockdown.

In the video, a woman wearing a mask is seen trying to hand out masks to her colleagues, who are all wearing red ties.

Each time she attempts to pass along a mask, she is refused by the individuals.

Eventually, she gives up and leaves.

Rep. Susan Wild told CBS News that "about half" of the hundreds of lawmakers who were locked into a small chamber during the riot refused to wear masks during the security breach.

She said she viewed the incident as a "superspreader event".

"About half of the people in the room are not wearing masks," she said. "Even though they've been offered surgical masks, they refuse to wear them."

She said the majority of those refusing the masks were Republicans, particularly recently elected Republicans.

Late on Wednesday, Rep Jake LaTurner learned he was positive with the coronavirus.

Mr LaTurner is a Republican, but it is not known whether he was wearing a mask during the lockdown.

Eric Toner, senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Washington Post that the Capitol riot was a textbook example of a superspreader event.

“This was in so many ways an extraordinarily dangerous event yesterday, not only from the security aspects but from the public health aspects, and there will be a fair amount of disease that comes from it,” he said.

Mr Toner said it would be virtually impossible to track the infections that will sprout from the event as Trump supporters and Congress members who may have the virus return to their homes around the country.

“It is a very real possibility that this will lead to a major outbreak, but one that we may or may not be able to recognise,” Mr Toner said. “All the cases to likely derive from this event will likely be lost in the huge number of cases we have in the country right now.”

Video from the riot showed very few Trump supporters wearing masks as they fought against Capitol police to gain access to the building.