The House select committee has blamed Donald Trump's tweet for putting a target on Mike Pence's back, and a time-lapse video shows that appears to be true.
The former president attacked Pence because he "didn't have the courage" to halt or delay certification of Joe Biden's election win on Jan. 6, 2021, and the surveillance video recorded from high above the Capitol grounds show a crowd of Trump supporters surge toward the police barrier less than four minutes after that tweet.
Trump's tweet came at 2:24 p.m. and Secret Service agents whisked Pence to a secure location in the Capitol two minutes later, and the video shows the mob surge just seconds before 2:28 p.m.
Some of the rioters had already broken into the building at 2:11 p.m. and made their way inside, and the crowd came 15 minutes before Oath Keepers and Proud Boys to use a tactical "stack" formation to push their way through and then forcibly enter the Rotunda.
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More than 800 people have been arrested in connection with the storming of Congress by Trump supporters, according to the Justice Department.
The assault on the Capitol left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured and followed a fiery speech by Trump to thousands of his supporters near the White House.
Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the Capitol riot -- he was charged with inciting an insurrection -- but was acquitted by the Senate, where only seven members of his own Republican party voted against him.
Watch video below or at this link.
\u201cHadn't realized this before. This surge of the mob came just minutes after Trump's tweet about Mike Pence.\u201d— Ryan J. Reilly (@Ryan J. Reilly) 1661275214
With additional reporting by AFP
