A new photo taken by ABC NewsPhotograph of Mike Pence, ex-Vice President, and his family during the attack on Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
Pence, along with his daughter, his brother Rep. Greg Pence (R-Indiana) and his wife Karen Pence, are shown in the vice president’s ceremonial office inside the Capitol. The photo was taken shortly after Pence was evacuated from the Senate chambersDue to the violent breach by loyalists to former President Donald Trump.
By the time the photograph was taken, the mob’s chants to “Hang Mike Pence” had already begun.
Pence is seen sitting at the table while his daughter lies on a sofa in the background, visibly upset about what has happened. Karen Pence is seen closing drapes on a window in the room to stop rioters seeing inside.
This photo was taken just minutes after VP Pence was evacuated off the Senate Floor. Karen Pence closes her curtains in this photo. I was told by a person in the room that she could see outside the mob and was afraid that they would see Pence. pic.twitter.com/RJs2nitAmE
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) June 15, 2022
Minutes after the picture was taken (by Pence’s former official photographer Myles Cullen), the family was moved to a more secure location — a loading dock beneath the Capitol, ABC News reported.
Pence, along with other lawmakers, would return to Congress several hours later. Reopening the certification ceremony, he delivered a speech, describing the day’s horrors as a “dark day in the history of the United States Capitol.”
The photo highlights the gravity of the day’s events, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), a member of the January 6 committee investigating the attack, said on CNN on Wednesday night.
“I think the public probably is not aware how close a call this was,” Lofgren said. “The rioters came very close to capturing the vice president and I think there’s very good evidence they would have done harm to him, perhaps even killed him.”
The mob of Trump loyalists had been angry with Pence because Trump had spent the past several days repeatedly — and falsely — asserting Pence could change the outcome of 2020’s presidential electionTrump lost the election to Joe Biden. The Constitution does not allow a vice president to change or reject individual states’ Electoral College votes, and their role in the certification ceremony is largely a symbolic one.
White House aides said that Trump was happy with the chants of his followersHang the vice president, and that He watched the violence unfold on TV with delight.Safely from the White House. Earlier this year, Trump said in an interview that it was “common sense” for his loyalists to call for Mike Pence to be hanged.
“How can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that?” Trump said. Notably, there has never been any evidence of fraud in the 2020 elections.
