Newly released footage shows Schumer’s ‘near miss’ with Capitol rioters

Security footage shown during the second day of former President Trump’s second impeachment trial showed Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his security detail being forced to change course in the Capitol complex after nearly coming face-to-face with some of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6. 

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), one of the House impeachment managers, on Wednesday afternoon presented video of the near encounter along with several other pieces of additional footage of the rioters inside the Capitol. It was the first time security camera footage of the deadly assault from inside the Capitol has been shown.

“Additional security footage shows how Leader Schumer and the members of his protective detail had a near miss with the mob. They came within just yards of rioters and had to turn around,” Swalwell said.

Security footage shows Schumer walking up a ramp with his security detail. The group walks out of view as it turn a corner into a hallway, only to swiftly turn back around less than three seconds later and rush back where it came from.

Two members of Schumer’s security detail shut the doors to the hallway and can be seen using their bodies to keep the doors closed.

Schumer had previously disclosed how close he was to encountering the rioters, saying he could hear them as they approached.

During an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow late last month, Schumer described arriving to the Senate floor at 1 p.m. and soon after being told by a police officer that he was in danger and had to evacuate.

“I was 30 feet away from those sons of guns,” Schumer said. “Thirty feet away from these nasty, racist, bigoted insurrectionists.”

Other scenes displayed by the footage include the rioters overwhelming police officers and charging through barricades. In previously unreleased audio, a Capitol Police officer can be heard calling for help and shouting, “They’re throwing metal poles at us.”