I made it to the Capitol. I did not go up to the steps or go inside. There were cheers from the crowd when the folks made it to the steps, balcony, and scaffolding on the west side of the Capitol (the side facing the White House and George Washington Monument). It appeared as if they were just up there waving their flags. On the street, I heard conversation of people storming the halls of the Capitol and heard something about percussion bombs and rubber bullets. However, from close by, I did not sense any violence or anything otherwise out of control. There were many people hanging out on the steps, scaffolding etc., but there didn’t appear to be any extra excitement as one would expect if there were anti-riot efforts being imposed from law enforcement.
The media is intent on using the word “violence”; however, if there was any, it was out of sight (i.e., inside the building) and certainly not wide spread.
I was a few blocks away down near the Air and Space Museum but I had binoculars and could see that some kind of a gas was in the air for a while up on the terrace. Was that the police aiming the gas at the protesters or do you know what it was?
Thanks.