CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — They may be on opposite sides of the political aisle but the stories Coastal Bend Congressmen Michael Cloud and Vicente Gonzalez tell about the riot at the national Capitol Building are very similar.
Protesters who wanted to stop the counting of Electoral College votes that certified Joe Biden's election to the Presidency stormed the Capitol Wednesday.
Some of them made it inside the Senate Chamber while others attempted to do the same at the other end of the building.
“It got to the point where — the doors were locked — people were banging on the doors of the House Chambers," Rep. Cloud said. "And then shortly there after we were evacuated.”
“We made it through and made it out of the chamber and eventually secluded ourselves in a safe place for about five hours before we were released,” Rep. Gonzalez said.
With little information available to them, lawmakers weren't sure what the rioters' intentions were.
“I immediately knew how far it could go," Gonzalez said. "I knew it could go all the way, and it could go all the way to murders."
Thursday brought clean-up efforts to the Capitol.
While Cloud says the damage to the building isn't very bad -- the damage to the country is worse.
“The facility is in decent shape," Cloud said. "But it feels like such a violation for us as a nation, because of what that building means to a nation like ours."
