Republican Senator Josh Hawley ran out of US Capitol building during January 6 riots. Check out why

Raising his fist in solidarity with the rioters on that fateful day on January 6, 2022 and enticing them to march into Capitol Hill has put Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri in serious trouble.

A new video of the senator has been aired, and he is shown to have fled Capitol Hill, post the "fist salute". The video was taken a few hours after he showed solidarity with the rioters and egged them on to plunder the building. Senators, while in the Capitol building, always walk and never run.

Mitt Romney came down heavily on Josh Hawley for doing this and told him quite categorically that it was he who encouraged the crowd to attack Capitol Hill.


Representative Elaine Luria, a Democrat and a member of the January 6 committee investigating the riots, explained how Hawley’s actions instigated the crowd to become violent. The mob soon broke the cordon on the east side of the Capitol and started streaming into the complex. This act made it difficult for the security to control the errant mob at the gates, which the rioters breached.

During the storming of Capitol Hill, the video showed that Senator Hawley fled the scene from the same mob he incited a few hours back. Hawley on the run, as per the video that day, drew immense barbs and laughter from the congressmen present.

After the riots, Hawley denounced the attack on the Capitol building and informed the committee that he was only showing solidarity with his state voters. Hawley said he was against the electors' counting the electoral votes and didn’t know his action would lead to the attack on the Capitol. Trump shared a Twitter video asking the rioters to "go home".

Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger, two Trump advisers, who left their positions after witnessing Trump's despicable behaviour at the time, claimed that Trump didn't want to inform the public that the elections were done.