Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Video shows crowd responding to Trump speech by chanting ‘Take the Capitol’

'He had assembled thousands of violent people'

Andrew Buncombe
Chief US Correspondent
Thursday 11 February 2021 00:52 GMT
Comments
Video shows crowd responding to Trump speech by chanting ‘Take the Capitol’.mp4

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Supporters of Donald Trump have been shown responding to his fiery January 6 speech with chants of "take the Capitol".

As Democrats presented evidence during day two of Mr Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, and sought to show a link between the former president’s words and the actions that followed, when hundreds of his supporters stormed the Capitol, they played a video showing the crowd listening to Mr Trump address a “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean said that Mr Trump told the crowd at the Capitol to "fight" 20 times, as opposed to mentioning "peaceful," or any suggestion of non-violence only once.

Watch the shocking new videos from the impeachment

She then played a clip of a video taken from the rear of the rally, as Mr Trump began to speak.

“Yeah,” one person could be heard to say. “Take the Capitol. Take the Capitol”.

“He had assembled thousands of violent people, people he knew were capable of violence, people he had seen be violent,” said Ms Dean, one of the Democrats’ "prosecutors", and who represents Pennsylvania’s 4th congressional district. 

“They were standing now in front of him,” she added. 

She added: “And then he pointed to us, lit the fuse, and sent an angry mob to fight the perceived enemy — his own vice president and members of Congress — as we certified an election.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in