‘I’ll Never Forget That Feeling’: Lawmakers Recount Capitol Riot Experience 100 Days Later

Congressmembers are recalling “that feeling” they experienced on Jan. 6 when protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

“All of a sudden, a police officer with a big bulletproof vest and a submachine gun across his waist grabs me firmly by the collar. I’ll never forget that feeling, and he says, ‘We’re in danger,'” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told NBC News’ Frank Thorp V.

It has been 100 days since the events at the Capitol in January occurred. Congressmembers were formally certifying the Electoral College vote count when protesters descended on the Capitol. Then-Vice President Mike Pence was removed from the Senate chamber at the time.

Five people died in the Capitol riot.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told Thorp as he recalled his experience on Jan. 6, “That’s when I was most frustrated and angry, angry at those who had gone along with the big lie, and told the American people that the election had been stolen. And I pointed to a couple of people who had participated in that ruse, and said, ‘You have caused this.'”

“I hope that I and others who come here will remember that when we succumb to untruths as a nation, that it can lead to violence and even death as it did,” he said.