‘Treasonous.’ Fresno, Merced Rep. Jim Costa describes seeing pro-Trump mob storm the Capitol
Fresno Democratic Rep. Jim Costa called the acts carried out Wednesday by a mob of domestic terrorists in the nation’s capital an act of treason.
The House District 16 representative was in the gallery with a limited number of other representatives, because of COVID-19 precautions, when a mob stormed the Capitol. The unruly group was aiming to stop the certification of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
“All of my colleagues I spoke with thought it was clearly outrageous of these individuals to take it upon themselves and storm the Capitol to engage in lawlessness,” Costa said. “I can tell you, for a lot of my colleagues, there was a level of fear.”
The elected officials were told to “hit the floor” as they were preparing to certify the electoral college votes, Costa said. They had just completed the votes from Alaska and prepared to debate Arizona.
After the mob breached the doors to the building, the representatives were told to pull out gas masks they all have under their seats and prepare to put them on, Costa said, because of the tear gas used in the rotunda.
The mob attempted to enter the doorway where a president typically enters for the State of the Union Address, Costa said.
“The protesters were really taking on a treasonous act by trying to overthrow not only the elections but to take over a branch of government,” he said. “Unheard of.”
Costa estimated the congress members were on the floor for about 15 minutes before they began to evacuate the Capitol.
“It was so disheartening, from my perspective,” he said. “I was wondering where this might lead. It was a sad day, for sure.”
Hours after the riot began, President Donald Trump encouraged supporters who stormed the Capitol in protest of his reelection defeat to “remain peaceful,” but he did not call for them to disperse.
Costa condemned Trump’s words but said he didn’t believe the will existed to remove Trump from office with the 25th Amendment just two weeks before his time in the Oval Office is over.
“There are two weeks left of this presidency, and I think it’s time to close this chapter,” he said. “I think it’s time to move on and to heal the wounds that have been created.”
Costa said he expects the representatives will have to review security measures because they did not hold up to the mob.
“Certainly, looking back, we were not properly prepared, and we should have been,” he said. “It’s been known for weeks that these protesters were going to come here.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 6:23 PM.
