A history of attacks on the US Capitol before this week

A history of attacks on the US Capitol before this week

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Supporters of President Donald Trump occupied the Capitol for more than four hours in an effort to fight the ceremonial count of voters to confirm the election of President Joe Biden. One woman was shot in the chest and later died, DC police told CNN. Multiple officers were injured with at least one being transported to the hospital, several sources told CNN.

Until Wednesday, the Capitol saw three more attacks – in 1814, 1954 and 1998.

Here’s a look at the incidents.

A view of the Capitol after the British fire on 24 August 1814.
British troops attacked the Capitol during the War of 1812 on August 24, 1814, according to the architect of the Capitol website.

The attack was in retaliation for the burning of the Canadian capital, York, in April 1813 by Americans. British troops, according to the Capitol’s architect website, found little to no resistance during the raid.

Most city residents fled at the time, the website said, but “those who remained … witnessed a terrifying spectacle.”

“The British burned down large chambers in the Capitol, which then housed the Library of Congress, as well as the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court,” the website reads. “The White House, the naval yard and several American warships were also burned.”

The Capitol was still under construction at the time, and most of the damage to parts of the wings was severe. Fortunately, the building was not destroyed, the website said.

“The structure of the exterior has survived and many of the interior spaces have remained intact,” the website says.

Nationalists attack Capitol in 1954

Puerto Rican nationalists (from left) Irving Flores Rodriguez, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Lolita Lebron and Andres Figueroa Cordero are in a police line-up after their arrest after a 1954 shooting attack on Capitol Hill.

Puerto Rican nationalists smuggled weapons to the Capitol and opened fire in 1954, said Samuel Holliday, director of scholarship and operations at the American Capitol Historical Society.

The shooting took place on March 1, 1954 when representatives on the House floor gathered for an upcoming vote, according to the House’s history and archives website. Three men and one woman – all members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party – traveled from New York City to Washington to take their seats in the visitors’ gallery above the room.

The quartet then opened fire and displayed the Puerto Rican flag. Five members of Congress were injured in the shooting, the website said.

Three of the attackers were quickly detained and a fourth who escaped the Capitol was apprehended later in the afternoon, according to the House’s website.

The violent act of protest had to draw attention to their demand for Puerto Rico’s independence, the website said. It was annexed by the USA in 1898.

The House website said the nationalists received sentences ranging from 16 to 75 years in federal prison. More than two decades later, President Jimmy Carter has granted their mercy.

Two Capitol police officers shot dead in 1998

Tourists are leaving the Capitol on a stretcher following the violence and chaos caused by the shooting that claimed the lives of U.S. police officers John Gibson and Jacob J. Chestnut.
Two Capitol police officers were fatally shot on July 24, 1998, according to the history of the House of Representatives.

A gunman with a history of mental illness storms past a security checkpoint and kills officer Jacob J. Chestnut jr., The website reads.

When shots rang out, the gunman ran to a door leading to the suites of then-majority whip Tom DeLay of Texas. Detective John M. Gibson told the assistants to seek cover while he and the gunman shot. Gibson was fatally wounded during the shooting, but gave other officers a chance to take down the gunman. A tourist was also injured.

Law enforcement agents described the attacker, who survived the attack, as an unstable individual who also made threats against the Pentagon.

The House and Senate approved a resolution for a memorial service for officers in the Capitol Rotunda days after the shooting.

On April 22, 1999, a federal judge ruled that the shooter was suffering from a mental illness and was incapable of standing trial.

Only successful coup in 1898

The aftermath of the 1898 racial riots in Wilmington, North Carolina, from the Library of Congress.

There was one successful coup in the country’s history, but it was a local uprising in a city in North Carolina, not the state capital.

When members of the Fusion Party took office in 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina, White residents of the port city were not happy to be represented by black businessmen and their white allies, according to the William Madison Randall Library at the University. of North Carolina Wilmington. .

This led to America’s only successful coup on November 10, 1898, when a group of armed White men attacked and killed black civilians in the city. The crowd was led by a group of powerful community leaders known as the Secret Nine, according to the library’s online guide on state capture.

‘The events of the 1898 coup were a turning point in the South-to-Reconstruction South that changed the trajectory of race relations in North Carolina and marked the beginning of the Jim Crow laws in the state, which marked racial segregation by further applied the middle of the 20th century. , “reads the website.

The North Carolina General Assembly set up the Wilmington Race Riot Commission in 2000 to develop a historic report of the coup and ‘assess the economic impact of the riots on African Americans locally and across the region and state’, according to the North Carolina Department. Natural and cultural resources.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Manu Raju and Peter Nickeas contributed to this report.

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