MA Congressman presiding over House Chamber when riot erupted

WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern of Worcester was presiding over the House Chamber when it was breached Tuesday afternoon.

He told Boston 25 News anchor Kerry Kavanaugh that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was called out of the Chamber and she tapped him in to step in. Neither knew in that moment that Pelosi was being evacuated.

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Shortly after that, the chaos erupted. McGovern recounted hearing banging on the doors and people shouting and chanting.

“I knew that it was just a matter of seconds before they were going to be able to breach that area,” he said.

“And look, these people are not protesters. They were domestic terrorists. They came to do harm to people. They also came to instigate a coup to overturn people’s voice and a legitimate election,” McGovern told Kavanaugh.

Massachusetts Congressman @RepMcGovern was presiding over the House chamber when it was breached Tuesday afternoon. He walks me through what unfolded during this moment in US history. Join us @boston25 at four pic.twitter.com/D895a1l94G
— Kerry Kavanaugh (@KerryKavanaugh) January 7, 2021