Three local South Texas congressmen were amongst the chaos Wednesday afternoon after the U.S. Capitol was overrun by demonstrators, resulting in the lock-down of the U.S. Capitol, with congressional leaders evacuated as demonstrators invaded the chambers.
Local congressmen Michael Cloud, Filemon Vela and Vicente Gonzalez were amongst the representatives that were evacuated from Capital Hill.
Congressman Vicente Gonzalez who represents District 15, tweeted a detailed update of what he experienced inside the U.S. Capitol this afternoon. He assured that he is safe and will be returning to do his "constitutional duty" when prompted to do so.
I was in the House Chambers when they came in and told us the Capitol had been breeched. They took the Speaker out of the chambers and locked us down and told us to stay in place. Later their were popping noises where we had to get down and follow Capitol Police orders out. (1/2)
— Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (@RepGonzalez) January 6, 2021
Congressman Michael Cloud, who represents District 27, also tweeted that he is safe.
Thank you all who are praying for our nation’s capital at this time.
— Congressman Michael Cloud (@RepCloudTX) January 6, 2021
We are safe, but please pray for our Capitol Police who are taking the brunt of this senseless violence.
We have no word yet on the status of District 34's Congressman Filemon Vela. We will update on his status as soon as it becomes available to us.
Congress was inside the U.S. Capital building, beginning a joint session to accept the Electoral College votes confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential election win, when protesters got past law enforcement and breached the building.
