Pa. and N.J. haven’t used thousands of vaccines | Morning Newsletter

Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines have gone unused in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as of Friday, but the vaccination effort is ramping up. Health officials in both states detailed logistical roadblocks, including difficult delivery, staffing, scheduling, storage and handling requirements, and even pandemic-related constraints. These challenges are being reported across the country, too.

And, I asked reporter Jonathan Tamari about his experience inside the U.S. Capitol as a mob of Trump supporters attacked and breached the building.

— Lauren Aguirre (@laurencaguirre, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Each week we go behind the scenes with one of our reporters or editors to discuss their work and the challenges they face along the way. This week we chat with national political reporter Jonathan Tamari, who was inside the U.S. House chamber when a mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol.

How did you start your day on Wednesday? What did you know or expect when you headed to the Capitol?

I knew Wednesday would be tense, but I was thrilled to be back at the Capitol. For years I’ve been lucky enough to have a desk in the building as my daily office, and anyone who works there will tell you there’s a feeling of excitement and gratitude that comes with walking in, and that feeling doesn’t fade. You walk over the tile floors, through the rotunda, past the Senate and House chambers, by amazing views of the National Mall with the Lincoln Monument in the distance, and you know all the history that has unfolded there. You feel lucky to have a chance to bear witness to some of it.

Because of the coronavirus and my 2020 election coverage, I had not been to the Capitol in months, but that feeling immediately hit me again when I returned Wednesday. I knew it would be a divisive day, and a very long one (I packed lunch, dinner and snacks), but I have seen many of those in eight years covering national politics and felt privileged to watch such important moments and bring them to our readers.

How did the morning go before and as Congress began its joint session? Were there any signs of what was coming?

It felt like a big day — but a normal big day. I got there early to make sure I could get a parking space. There were some Trump supporters outside, but it was a pretty small crowd then — the main rally was a couple miles away at the White House. I exchanged a friendly smile with one Trump supporter as I got out of my car.

In hindsight, the security was surprisingly light. I’ve been to the Capitol for high-security events, like when the president speaks or when the Pope visited, and the manpower, weaponry and vehicles for those events far exceeded what I saw Wednesday morning.

Inside I dropped my things at a desk and wiped it down with a disinfectant wipe. Because of the virus, the Capitol was stunningly empty for an event of this magnitude. Around noon I had a small debate with myself about whether I should eat lunch — I wasn’t hungry, but I knew once the debate began at 1, things could go for a long time, so I ate. I’d be glad I did.

I walked over to the House gallery, which leads into the top tier of the House chamber. That’s where reporters watch the House floor. Staff there gave me a red tag with the number 6 on it, my assigned seat for the day, and I clipped it to my jacket pocket. Then I went inside the chamber to watch, with my laptop and my phone.

When did you see or hear that something more was happening? What did you experience as the mob of Trump supporters pushed its way into the Capitol?

I was watching the debate inside the House chamber. If you’ve ever watched a State of the Union address, I was sitting above and to the right of where the president would appear on your TV screen. I focused on the debate, because I knew Pennsylvania was one of the few states that was going to face serious objections. I started seeing tweets, though, about the mob fighting police, and eventually breaching the Capitol. I started getting texts from my wife, who was seeing the same scenes on TV and on Twitter.

I told her I didn’t know how serious it was. I couldn’t see or hear them (yet) from inside the chamber. Whenever there’s something dangerous happening in the country, some family members worry about me being in the Capitol, since it can be a target, but I always assure them that with all the security and police there, it’s probably one of the safest places to be in D.C. Usually I think that’s right.

What happened next? What was your first reaction after seeing the attack unfolding?

At some point I saw security personnel rush onto the House floor and whisk away Steny Hoyer, the House’s second ranking Democrat. Below (I couldn’t see from my seat) they also took House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the room. Press staff for the House told us we may soon be locked inside, so to make sure we had anything we needed with us. There are tall doors all around the House chamber and police started closing and locking them. “This is because of you!” a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, Dean Phillips, yelled at Republicans.

An officer came to the rostrum and announced there had been a breach of the Capitol, and the House and Senate were in lockdown. They said the rioters had made it as far as the rotunda, a short and normally beautiful walk to the House chamber. Debate resumed for a couple minutes and then quickly stopped again.

“Be prepared to get down in your chairs,” an officer warned. They told us they had fired tear gas in the rotunda. I was tweeting what was happening and texting my wife. The police told lawmakers to reach under their chairs and pull out “escape hoods,” huge masks and head coverings that protect from chemical irritants. Over the years I had seen the bags that contain those hoods but have never seen them deployed. Press staff began handing the masks to reporters. They were in packaging a little bigger than a lunchbox, wrapped tightly in silver plastic. I ripped open the packaging and tried to read the directions while watching what was unfolding.

A mechanical piece in the masks, maybe a fan, made a loud buzzing sound. I put mine on, but it was hard to hear and I felt clumsy while wearing it so I pulled it back off and carried it. Police told us to move and reporters, gallery staff and House members began clambering over chairs and railings. I was clutching my laptop, charger and hood as I moved. I heard a loud popping sound — the invaders were smashing the glass in the main doors to the chamber, the same doors the president and Senate walk through during those State of the Union nights.

I saw police push a big piece of furniture in front of the door to barricade it, and training their pistols out the door. That’s when things felt the most frightening. I couldn’t believe I was seeing weapons drawn on the floor of the U.S. House. I had no idea who might come through. That image ran on the front page of many newspapers the next day (including ours) and it’s a sight I’ll never forget. “People are smashing glass in the doors to the House chamber. Police have guns drawn and aimed at the door,” I tweeted at 2:43 p.m.

Suddenly we were told to stop, I’m not sure why, and I ducked behind a chair in the corner of the gallery. Others were lying on the floor, between the chairs. My wife texted to ask if I had evacuated. “We are huddled inside. Police working on it,” I wrote back.

Some minutes passed — I can’t say how many — and we started moving again, stepping over railings to get to the door. Outside the chamber I saw a handful of rioters lying face down, surrounded by police. Reporters, staff and House members moved through a line of police with handguns drawn, weaving through the Capitol and its tunnels.

As we moved, I texted my wife that I was out of the chamber.

What did you do and experience while the Capitol was on lockdown for hours? And, after the mob was cleared out and Congress headed back into session, what did you see and experience then? What were you focused on?

I ended up in a secured room with other reporters and House members and staffers. The buzzing of the escape hoods sounded like a swarm of insects. I was in work mode. I started interviewing House members about what they saw, including some from Pennsylvania. A House security official tried to make me stop, but this was a moment for history, and other reporters were doing the same.

From there, it was about getting information out. I set my laptop on a long table and sent a post about the scene in the chamber. I spoke with my editor about our story plans and began building that post into a full story about what unfolded. Texts were flying in from friends and family. I couldn’t respond then but they helped so much. From there I wrote, sent my work to a colleague who was working with me, and then tried to figure out what else I needed to report and write. The room was hot and stuffy. Staff passed out water, bags of Goldfish and Skittles (I took water).

Eventually the Capitol was cleared and we returned to the House gallery, and debate resumed. Sometime into the night I ate an apple and Rx bar. I stayed in the House watching the debate resume on the floor — I could see the broken windows in the door that had been smashed — while monitoring the Senate debate on my laptop. The Pennsylvania debate began a little after midnight and the vote on Pa. ended around 3:10 a.m. Thursday. I tweeted information and news as it happened.

What did you do when you could finally call it a night and stop working?

The final counting of all the Electoral College votes concluded at about 3:40 a.m. I went back to my desk, packed my things and uneaten dinner and drove home. The next day’s newspaper was already on my doorstep when I arrived a bit after 4 a.m. I read some news stories on my phone as I got ready for bed, and kissed my wife.

I woke up after about 2 hours’ sleep Thursday morning and started reading and working on a follow-up story. Thursday night, after that story was done, I finally looked back on everything, and reread my texts. I saw the one from 2:35 p.m. Wednesday. “They’re in the rotunda. Police using tear gas in the Capitol.”

It’s still hard to believe I wrote that.

Email Jonathan Tamari at jtamari@inquirer.com and follow him on Twitter at @JonathanTamari.

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