Yesterday, a mob of protesters turned violent at the U.S. Capitol Building, and footage shows multiple groups of rioters destroying press equipment as they were pushed away from the area by police.
Associated Press journalists had been set up behind barricades along with a large amount of camera and lighting equipment but were overwhelmed. Footage shows rioters toppling the metal fencing, and as more of them converged on the area the journalists were forced to flee and leave the equipment behind.
JUST NOW: protestors charging the media pic.twitter.com/cANlcv5CMP
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) January 6, 2021
BREAKING. Mob of Trump supporters swarm the media near the US Capitol. They yell what Trump frequently says, “the media is the enemy of the people.” They destroy equipment and chased out reporters. I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20 year career: @nbcwashington @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/3VLC07JQR2
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 6, 2021
Rioters then proceeded to destroy the abandoned equipment, which appears to be valued in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Outside the Capitol, pro-Trump protesters are smashing cameras and other media equipment yelling “CNN sucks!”
One man took a wooden stick and bashed the pile of destroyed equipment.This stuff isn’t owned by CNN. They are destroying AP equipment. pic.twitter.com/NeIUUSuYaC
— Christal Hayes (@Journo_Christal) January 6, 2021
A bunch of Associated Press equipment had to be abandoned and a crowd is trashing it. “We are the news now!” a man yells. Looks like they’re going to try to light it on fire. pic.twitter.com/3GPNcUlDeC
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) January 6, 2021
They made a noose from the camera cord and hung it from a tree. pic.twitter.com/M9KC7odLAm
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) January 6, 2021
The riots that overwhelmed the Capitol building on Wednesday have resulted in large scale damage to the interior of the Congressional buildings. Four are dead, and at least 52 have been arrested.