5
Chansley piggybacking on Pezzola’s violent breach of the Capitol provides more than
enough evidence of his corrupt intent to interfere with Congress that day. But there is much more
evidence of his and others’ conduct. The televised footage shows Chansley’s movements only
from approximately 2:56 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Prior to that time, Chansley had, amongst other acts,
breached a police line at 2:09 p.m. with the mob, entered the Capitol less than one minute behind
Pezzola during the initial breach of the building, and faced off with members of the U.S. Capitol
Police for more than thirty minutes in front of the Senate Chamber doors while elected officials,
including the Vice President of the United States, were fleeing from the chamber. Chansley then
entered the Senate Gallery, where he proceeded to scream obscenities while other rioters rifled
through the desks of U.S. Senators on the floor below. All these actions were captured by Senate
floor and/or CCTV cameras. In sum, Chansley was not some passive, chaperoned observer of
events for the roughly hour that he was unlawfully inside the Capitol. He was part of the initial
breach of the building; he confronted law enforcement for roughly 30 minutes just outside the
Senate Chamber; he gained access to the gallery of the Senate along with other members of the
mob (obviously, precluding any Senate business from occurring); and he gained access to and later
left the Senate floor only after law enforcement was able to arrive en masse to remove him. It is
true that a sole officer, who was trying to de-escalate the situation, was with Chansley as he made
his way to the Senate floor after initially breaching the Chamber, as the televised footage reflects.6
But the televised footage fails to show that Chansley subsequently refused to be escorted out by
this lone officer and instead left the Capitol only after additional officers arrived and forcibly
escorted him out