January 6, 2021

On January 6, 2021 a violent mob broke into the United States Capitol in an effort to halt the certification of the electoral vote and overturn the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump. The insurrection was unsuccessful. But its echoes continue to reverberate today. Monroe Gallery photographers recorded the shocking storming of the Capitol on January 6, the resulting lock-down of the Capitol grounds, and the eventual inauguration of President Biden.

"...it feels like there’s no sense of where people are going. No idea where the chambers are. I have no idea- it’s my first time in here, like it is for most of the insurectionists too. And then they’re moving through the hallways, and the front group stops. I walk into the scene and there’s one police officer, standing there, shouting at them. He’s telling them to stop, they’re telling him to move, they move towards him and he grabs at his pistol. I see him unclip the holster for his weapon and I make sure there’s a protester between me and him - ten inches of flesh should be enough to stop a 9mm I figure and keep working.But incredibly this officer–an African American man being confronted by scores of white nationalists, one of them actually carrying a Confederate flag, others in helmets and armor, some of them with spears and bats–shows restraint. He threatens and he shouts, and he points and screams and holds his ground, and talks into a small radio on his shirt. And then he runs up the stairs. The group follows, and they round the stairs, and follow him into a room with more officers…His name, I would later learn, was Eugene Goodman. He acted as a diversion to draw rioters away from the Senate chamber. There weren't many moments that we can be proud of as a nation from Jan. 6, 2021, but this is one of them." –Ashley Gilbertson